Corporate Opportunities Review: Q2 2026

Corporate recorded the fifth-highest number of advertised roles during the second quarter of 2026. Recruitment activity was concentrated around M&A and Private Equity, with firms also seeking lawyers with broader Corporate and ECM experience. Despite remaining one of the practice areas with the most advertised roles, the volume of advertised vacancies was lower than might be expected given the size of the Corporate market, an observation explored later in this report.

This review is based on recruitment activity across the 80 law firms that form the basis of the Rackle Legal Hiring Index. These firms comprise UK international, US and City/regional firms that consistently accounted for around 80% of the associate and PSL roles advertised directly in the London market, allowing meaningful trends to be identified.

The report examines the firms recruiting during the quarter, the vacancies they advertised and how those opportunities evolved between April and June.

Executive Summary:

• 40 Corporate vacancies were active during the quarter.

• 19 new roles were advertised during Q2.

• 23 roles were filled or withdrawn during the quarter.

• 18 vacancies remained open entering Q3.

• 26 firms advertised at least one Corporate role.

  
  

Recruitment Activity

Across the quarter, 40 Corporate vacancies were active across the firms covered by the Rackle Legal Hiring Index. Twenty-six firms advertised at least one Corporate role during Q2, with 19 new vacancies coming to market from 16 firms. A further 21 vacancies had already been live at the start of the quarter, demonstrating continued recruitment activity from firms that had begun hiring earlier in the year.

During Q2, 23 vacancies were filled or withdrawn, while 18 remained open at the end of June, providing an ongoing pipeline of opportunities entering the third quarter.

The combination of new vacancies, closed positions and continuing live opportunities suggests that Corporate recruitment remained active throughout the quarter, although at a lower level than might be expected given the size of the practice area.

Where Firms Were Hiring

Not surprisingly M&A dominated Corporate recruitment during the quarter, with firms seeking both lawyers with pure M&A experience and those able to advise across both M&A and ECM matters. Private Equity also represented a significant area of demand and two roles were purely focused on ECM work.

Beyond these core areas, firms also recruited for Corporate Insurance and Corporate Real Estate roles, while a small number of opportunities were targeted specifically at US-qualified Corporate lawyers.

Vacancy Duration

Most open vacancies had been advertised only recently.

Of the 18 roles carried into Q3:

• 14 had been advertised for three months or less.

• Only 4 had remained live for more than six months.

  
  

This suggests that firms are generally able to recruit successfully into Corporate vacancies, with relatively few positions remaining persistently difficult to fill.

Level of Opportunities

The advertised market continued to favour more experienced lawyers. Only two roles were suitable for lawyers with less than two years' PQE, including just one vacancy that was open to a newly qualified lawyer, which remained unfilled at the end of the quarter.

The strongest area of demand was for lawyers with 2–6 years' PQE, with more than half of all advertised opportunities falling within this experience range. At the other end of the market, nine roles required five or more years' experience.

There were also four Professional Support Lawyer opportunities:

• Three required M&A experience.

• One focused on Private Equity.

Which Firms Were Recruiting?

Recruitment activity was spread across a broad range of firms. Of the 26 firms advertising Corporate opportunities during Q2:

• 17 were UK-headquartered international firms.

• 6 were US firms.

• 3 were City or national firms.

Sixteen firms opened at least one new Corporate vacancy during the quarter.

The analysis focuses on firms that advertise vacancies directly through their careers pages. Some firms, particularly a number of US firms with substantial Corporate practices, do not advertise their roles on their career pages  and therefore cannot be analysed using longitudinal vacancy data. Consequently, this report should be viewed as an analysis of the advertised Corporate market, rather than the entirety of Corporate recruitment in London.

The Rackle View

Looking beyond the headline figures, Q2 presented a picture of a Corporate market that was steady, but less active than might be expected.

Recruitment was concentrated around M&A and Private Equity, while firms also continued to recruit across a broader range of Corporate specialisms, including Corporate Insurance and Corporate Real Estate.

Hiring was spread across a broad cross-section of the market, with 26 firms advertising Corporate vacancies during the quarter. However, the overall volume of advertised opportunities remained lower than might be expected given the size of the Corporate practice area within the London market. This may indicate that some firms, while continuing to advertise vacancies in other practice areas, are choosing to not advertise their corporate roles, or may simply be that compared to other practice areas the recruitment market for corporate lawyers is somewhat subdued.

The profile of roles also reflected a continued preference for experienced associates. More than half of all advertised opportunities targeted lawyers with between two and six years' PQE, while vacancies suitable for newly qualified lawyers remained scarce. At the same time, relatively few vacancies remained open for extended periods, suggesting firms were generally able to recruit successfully once roles reached the market.

Overall, the advertised Corporate market remained resilient throughout Q2, with plenty of scope for recruitment activity to increase during Q3 should market conditions continue to improve.

Visit the Rackle Homepage for more information on the Rackle Legal Hiring Index