Recruitment Market Update – Early 2026 Hiring Activity Outpaces Last Year
- edobrien92
- Mar 3
- 5 min read
February delivered another strong month of hiring across the London legal recruitment market, with 141 new roles recorded. While marginally below January’s 145, activity remains firmly elevated and, importantly, significantly ahead of the same period last year.
By comparison, February 2025 saw just 95 new roles advertised, representing a sharp drop from the 130 recorded in January 2025. The contrast is notable. Not only has the typical post-January slowdown failed to materialise in 2026, but volumes remain materially higher year-on-year. This suggests the market may be entering a more promising phase than we experienced in early 2025.
Banking & Finance: Sustained Momentum
Banking & Finance recorded 17 new roles in February — identical to January’s total. This consistency reinforces the practice area’s position as one of the most active segments of the London market.
Insurance Litigation: A Standout Month
Insurance Litigation emerged as one of February’s standout performers, with 12 new roles coming to market.
Corporate: Slight Softening but Still Active
Corporate recorded 11 new roles in February, a modest decrease from January’s 15. While volumes have eased slightly, activity remains broadly in line with typical monthly averages seen in the second half of 2025.
Real Estate: Solid but Below January’s Peak
Real Estate saw 10 new roles, alongside 5 Real Estate Litigation and 5 Residential Real Estate positions. While this represents a step back from January’s exceptionally strong figures, February’s numbers still reflect healthy demand compared to 2025.
Employment: Consistent Demand
Employment once again recorded 9 new roles, maintaining the steady monthly pattern seen for over the last 12 months.
Construction & Disputes: Still building!
Construction recorded 7 new roles in February - notably above the 2025 monthly average of 4 roles per month - reinforcing its position as one of the busiest and most consistently active areas of the market. The sustained uplift suggests that firms continue to see strong pipeline work across both development and infrastructure projects.
Construction Litigation added a further 3 roles, bringing the combined total across non-contentious and contentious construction to 10 opportunities in February.
Intellectual Property - a return to more normal levels
Intellectual Property, which saw an unusual spike in January, returned to more typical levels with 2 new roles.
Outlook
With 141 new roles recorded in February — significantly higher than the 95 seen in February 2025 — the early signs point to a more stable and potentially more optimistic hiring environment in 2026.
While it is still early in the year, the absence of a February slowdown is encouraging. If March and April maintain similar volumes, we may be witnessing the start of a more sustained growth cycle compared to the uneven trajectory experienced in 2025.
The coming months will provide greater clarity, but the year-on-year data already suggests that 2026 is shaping up to be a more promising period for the London legal recruitment market.
Breakdown by Practice Areas
Transactional Roles:
At the beginning of March, we identified the following number of London based legal jobs that were being advertised by law firms on their careers’ pages in the below practice areas:
Banking & Finance: 49 roles (two being PSL roles) - eight with US firms, 37 with UK international/global firms and five with City/regional firm. There were 17 new roles added to firms’ careers’ sites during February.
Corporate: 31 roles - eight with US firms, 16 with international firms and seven with City/regional firms. There were 11 new roles added to firms’ careers’ sites during February.
Restructuring/Insolvency: Eight roles - two with US firms, three with UK international/global firms and three with City/regional firms). Two of the roles were new, having been added to the firms’ careers’ site since the beginning of February.
Advisory Practice areas:
At the beginning of February, we identified the following number of London based legal jobs being advertised by law firms on their careers’ pages in the below practice areas:
Antitrust/EU/Competition: Four roles - one with a US firm, two with UK international firms and one with a City/Regional firm. One new roles was added to firms’ careers’ sites during February.
Employment - 37 roles (including three PSL roles) - one with a US firms, 13 with top tier international firms and 24 with City/regional firms. There were nine new roles added to firms’ careers’ sites during February.
FS/Regulatory - Two roles - all with international firms. There were no new roles added to firms’ careers’ sites during February.
Funds - Six roles (including one PSL role) Two with US firms, three with international firms and one with a City/regional firm One of the roles was new, having been added to the firms’ careers’ site since the beginning of February.
Incentives - Six roles. Four with UK international firm and two with a City/regional firm. There were two new roles added to firms’ careers’ sites during February.
Pensions - 15 roles (including three PSL roles) - Nine with international firms and six with City/regional firms. Two of the roles were new, having been added to firms’ careers’ site since the beginning of February.
Tax - 20 roles (including one tax litigation role and two PSL roles) - two with US firms, 14 with international firms and four with regional/City firms. There were three new roles added to firms’ careers’ sites during January.
Litigation:
At the beginning of February, we identified the following number of London based legal jobs being advertised by law firms on their careers’ pages in the below practice areas:
Commercial Litigation - 18 roles (including two PSL roles). Two with US firms, nine with international firms and seven with regional/city boutiques). Seven of the roles were new, having been added to the firms’ careers’ site since the beginning of February.
Real Estate Litigation - 11 roles - three with international firms and eight with City /Regional firms). Five of the roles were new, having been added to firms’ careers’ site since the beginning of February.
Insurance Litigation - 19 roles. 11 with international firms and eight with city/regional firms. 12 of the roles were new, having been added to firms’ careers’ site since the beginning of February.
Personal Injury (including clinical negligence) - 10 roles. Seven with international firms, and three with City/Regional firms). Three of the roles were new, having been added to firms’ careers’ site since the beginning of February.
Specialist Litigation - 15 roles - six with international firms and nine with city/regional firms. Four of the roles were new, having been added to the firms’ careers’ site since the beginning of February.
Construction, Planning and Real Estate:
At the beginning of February, we identified the following number of London based legal jobs being advertised by law firms on their careers’ pages in the below practice areas:
Construction – 20 roles (including one PSL role) - seven with international firms, 13 with City/regional firms). Seven of the roles were new, having been added to the firms’ careers’ site since the beginning of February.
Construction Litigation - 12 roles. Seven with international firms and five with City/Regional firm). Three of the roles were new since the beginning of February.
Planning - Six roles. Three with international firms and three with City/regional firms). Four of the roles were new since the beginning of February.
Commercial Real Estate - 29 roles (including one PSL roles). Two with US firms, 13 with international firms and 14 with City/regional firms). 10 of the roles were new, having been added to the firms’ careers’ site since the beginning of February.
If you are interested in an objective view of what is happening within your specific practice area visit www.therackle.com and contact us to see how we can help.
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