London Legal Jobs Overview - 1st September 2025 (Inhouse)

After July’s slowdown, the London in-house legal job market continued to soften in August, with 185 new roles advertised directly by companies on LinkedIn. This represents a further dip from July’s 200 openings and June’s 241, marking another monthly low for 2025.

While hiring volumes have eased, the breadth of sectors recruiting in-house lawyers remains diverse, and several areas continue to demonstrate resilience—particularly within financial services and technology.

The composition of the market shifted slightly in August:

• Commerce & Industry: 87 roles (47%) – down from July’s 99, reflecting reduced demand across a broad range of corporates.

• Financial Services: 75 roles (41%) – maintaining a strong share of overall activity, underlining the sector’s consistent appetite for legal expertise.

• Government & Not-for-Profit: 21 roles (11%) – a modest rise compared with July’s 17.

Chart of new London inhouse roles advertised directly by organisations on LinkedIn

Sector Leaders: Technology and Finance

Technology once again led the market, with 37 new roles in August. Though slightly down on July’s 43, tech remains the single most active sector for in-house lawyers.

Within financial services, hiring patterns revealed continued strength in digital finance:

• Fintech, Crypto & Payments posted 27 roles, maintaining momentum and confirming its role as a key growth driver.

• Banking added 25 roles, reflecting steady demand in a sector that remains core to London’s inhouse legal hiring landscape.

• Asset Management showed a modest uptick to 10 roles, up from July’s 7, though still below the stronger levels seen earlier in the year.

Sector Highlights and Shifts

Several other sectors stood out in August:

• Sports, Media & Entertainment surged to 21 roles, up sharply from 15 in July, signalling healthy demand in an industry that has been a reliable contributor throughout 2025.

• Insurance held steady at 13 roles, in line with previous months.

• Healthcare & Lifesciences softened further to 6 roles, continuing the decline from July’s 7.

• Retail & Consumer Goods also posted 6 roles, unchanged from July but well below the 19 recorded in June.

• Energy & Infrastructure dipped again, with just 4 roles compared to July’s 8.

Other areas recorded low but consistent activity:

• Central & Local Government: 7 roles

• Charities / NFP: 11 roles

• Real Estate & Construction: 4 roles

• Professional Services: 3 roles

• Logistics & Transport: 2 roles

• Regulatory Bodies: 3 roles

• Manufacturing & Industrials: 4 roles

Chart of London inhouse roles (by sector) advertised by organisations directly on LinkedIn

With August typically a quieter hiring month, some of the decline may reflect seasonal patterns. However, the sustained fall from June’s high point raises the possibility that employers are adopting a more measured approach as economic and regulatory uncertainty persists.

Still, the strength of technology and digital finance hiring, combined with resilience in areas like insurance and sports/media, suggests that demand remains strategically concentrated rather than broadly diminished.

As Q3 progresses, the key question is whether September will bring a rebound in activity or confirm a more prolonged cooling in the In-house legal job market.

Stay updated on the latest In-house legal hiring trends by visiting www.therackle.com or following us on LinkedIn.