Litigation Opportunities: Q3 2026
The Litigation hiring market remained active during the third quarter of 2026, with both the overall number of vacancies and the number of firms recruiting increasing compared with Q2.
Across the firms covered by the Rackle Legal Hiring Index, 122 Litigation vacancies were active during Q3, compared with 111 during Q2. Sixty-one new roles were advertised during the quarter, up from 56 in Q2.
Perhaps more notable was the breadth of recruitment. Fifty-nine firms advertised at least one Litigation vacancy during Q3, compared with 43 during the previous quarter.
Looking beneath the headline figures, recruitment activity varied considerably between different areas of Litigation. Commercial Litigation recorded the clearest increase in demand, while Insurance Litigation remained one of the largest sources of opportunities. Personal Injury and Real Estate Litigation were both quieter than during Q2.
Below we look at the firms that were advertising roles during the quarter, the vacancies they advertised and how those opportunities evolved between July and September.
Executive Summary
122 Litigation vacancies were active during Q3, compared with 111 during Q2.
61 new roles were advertised, up from 56 in Q2.
59 firms advertised at least one Litigation vacancy, compared with 43 during Q2.
Commercial Litigation recorded 21 new roles, up from 14 in Q2.
66 vacancies closed during the quarter, with 56 remaining open entering Q4.
Four vacancies across the Litigation market were suitable for newly qualified lawyers.
*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 account for around 80% of the associate and PSL roles advertised directly in the London market, allowing meaningful trends to be identified.
Recruitment Activity
Litigation recruitment strengthened during Q3, although the increase was relatively measured at an overall market level.
Across the five areas covered by this analysis, 122 vacancies were active during the quarter, compared with 111 during Q2, an increase of around 10%.
Sixty-one vacancies had already been live entering Q3 and a further 61 new roles were advertised between July and September. This compares with 56 new roles during Q2.
Sixty-six vacancies closed during the quarter, leaving 56 still being advertised entering Q4.
The flow of vacancies was therefore relatively high in both directions. Firms continued to bring significant numbers of new Litigation opportunities to market, but vacancies were also closing at a slightly faster rate than new roles were being added.
Perhaps the more significant indication of the health of the market is the breadth of recruitment. Fifty-nine firms advertised at least one Litigation vacancy during Q3, compared with 43 during Q2.
Where Were Firms Hiring?
The overall Litigation figures conceal some significant differences between the individual areas of the market.
Commercial Litigation
Commercial Litigation recorded the clearest increase in recruitment activity during Q3.
Thirty-eight vacancies were active during the quarter, compared with 28 in Q2, an increase of around 36%.
More importantly, 21 new Commercial Litigation roles were advertised during Q3, compared with 14 during Q2, an increase of 50%.
Twenty-three vacancies also closed during the quarter, leaving 15 being advertised entering Q4.
The increase in new roles is particularly notable because it provides a clearer indication of fresh hiring demand than the overall stock of active vacancies. On that measure, Commercial Litigation was considerably more active during Q3 than during the previous quarter.
Insurance Litigation
Insurance Litigation remained busy. Thirty-five vacancies were active during Q3, compared with 28 during Q2.
The flow of new vacancies was unchanged: 17 new roles were advertised in both Q2 and Q3.
The higher number of active vacancies therefore does not appear to reflect an acceleration in new hiring during Q3 in the same way as Commercial Litigation. Instead, the practice continued to sustain the relatively high level of recruitment activity already seen during Q2. However it is worth noting that there were only 12 firms that advertised roles in this area!
Eighteen Insurance Litigation vacancies closed during the quarter, leaving 17 still being advertised entering Q4.
Specialist Litigation
Specialist Litigation (areas such as Cyber litigation, Media Litigation, Technology litigation, aviation litigation and others) remained relatively stable.
Twenty-three vacancies were active during Q3, compared with 22 during Q2, while 12 new roles were advertised compared with 11 during the previous quarter.
Ten vacancies closed, leaving 13 still being advertised entering Q4.
Personal Injury
Personal Injury recruitment moderated during Q3.
Nineteen vacancies were active during the quarter, compared with 23 during Q2, while eight new roles were advertised compared with 10 during the previous quarter.
Eleven vacancies closed during Q3, leaving eight being advertised entering Q4.
The figures therefore suggest a somewhat quieter quarter for Personal Injury recruitment compared with Q2.
Real Estate Litigation
Real Estate Litigation remained a relatively small part of the advertised market and was also quieter during Q3.
Seven vacancies were active, compared with 10 during Q2, while three new roles were advertised compared with four during the previous quarter.
Four vacancies closed and three remained open entering Q4.
Taken together, the figures show that the Litigation market was not moving uniformly during Q3. The clearest increase in demand was within Commercial Litigation, where the number of new roles rose by 50% quarter-on-quarter.
Insurance Litigation remained a significant source of vacancies, although the unchanged number of new roles suggests continued strong demand by a select number of firms rather than a further acceleration.
Vacancy Duration
Headline vacancy numbers only tell part of the story. Equally important is understanding how long opportunities remain available.
Of the Fifty-six Litigation vacancies that remained open entering Q4:
42 had been advertised for three months or less.
5 had been advertised for between three and six months.
9 had been advertised for six months or more.
The overall picture therefore appears to be one of relatively active vacancy turnover. Although there is a group of longstanding roles that may be proving more difficult to fill, most of the opportunities entering Q4 had come to market relatively recently.
Level of Opportunities
As expected, the greatest number of new vacancies were available for lawyers with between two and six years' post-qualification experience, although just over 10% of the active roles were seeking senior lawyers with more than 6 years pqe!
At the more junior end of the market, there were four NQ vacancies. Two were within Personal Injury, with one each in Commercial Litigation and Real Estate Litigation. The seven NQ roles that were carried over from Q2 were all closed by the end of Q3.
Professional Support Lawyer Recruitment
There were three new PSL / Knowledge roles across the Litigation market during Q3.
Two were within Commercial Litigation and one within Real Estate Litigation. The two roles carried over from Q2 were both closed within the first month of Q3.
Which Firms Were Recruiting?
Recruitment activity was spread across a broad range of firms.
Fifty-nine firms advertised at least one Litigation vacancy during Q3, while 42 firms opened at least one new role.
Of the firms opening new vacancies:
28 were UK international firms.
12 were City/regional firms.
2 were US firms.
Commercial Litigation had the broadest spread of fresh recruitment, with 17 firms opening new roles during the quarter. this compared to just 11 in Q2.
The analysis focuses on firms that advertise vacancies directly through their careers pages. Some firms, particularly a number of US firms with substantial Litigation practices, do not advertise their roles on their career pages and therefore cannot be analysed using longitudinal vacancy data. This report should be viewed as an analysis of the advertised Litigation market, rather than a complete picture of Litigation recruitment in London.
The Rackle View
Q3 suggested the Litigation recruitment market was moving in an upwards direction, but the most interesting feature was the difference in activity between individual areas.
At an overall level, 122 vacancies were active compared with 111 during Q2, while the number of new roles increased more modestly from 56 to 61.
Fifty-nine firms advertised Litigation vacancies during the quarter, compared with 43 during Q2, suggesting demand was spread across a significantly larger group of firms.
Commercial Litigation was the clearest area of increasing demand. Twenty-one new vacancies were advertised during Q3, 50% more than during Q2, while the total number of active vacancies increased from 28 to 38.
Insurance Litigation also remained particularly active, with 35 vacancies during the quarter. However, the 17 new roles advertised were unchanged from Q2, suggesting continued strong demand rather than a further acceleration.
Whether the increase in Commercial Litigation hiring continues into Q4 will be one of the more interesting trends to watch.
If you would like to explore the roles that have been carried over into Q4, please visit our Opportunity tracker.
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