Recruitment Market Update – March 2026 Hiring Remains Elevated

March recorded 146 new roles across the London legal recruitment market, a slight increase on February’s 141 and broadly in line with January’s 145.

Hiring levels remain elevated across the first quarter, especially compared to Q1 2025, however in March the number of new roles was outpaced by the number of roles closed, meaning the steady increase in the number of overall active roles that we have seen over the last 3 months has stopped.

This is particularly notable when viewed against recent external events and may suggest that the initial surge in recruitment has been tempered a little especially in some areas. However it is promising that the number of new roles has not dropped of as it did in 2025 following the US tariff announcements, and so may be a small blip in an otherwise strengthening market.

Below is a summary of some of the main practice areas.

Banking & Finance: Consistent Activity

Banking & Finance recorded 16 new roles in March, a marginal decrease from February’s 17. However the overall number of active roles decreased again as the number of roles closed outpaced the number of new roles. Interestingly half of the new roles were focused on either structured finance/derivatives or fund finance

Employment: Increase in March

Employment continues to be one of the most active areas in the market and there were no signs of things letting up. March saw 11 new roles, up from 9 in February.

Antitrust / EU / Competition: Above Historical Levels

Antitrust / EU / Competition recorded 7 new roles in March. This is notably higher than the 2025 monthly average of 2 roles, representing a significant increase in hiring within this practice area.

Corporate: Reduced Levels Compared to January

Corporate recorded 7 new roles in March, down from 11 in February and 15 in January.

This is also lower than the monthly average of 11 in 2025. 

Real Estate: Could the burst of activity be over?

There were 6 new commercial real estate roles in March, which is significantly down on the number of new roles in January (18) and February (10), which may indicate that a burst of activity in the area may be over. 

Construction: Divergence Between Contentious and Non-Contentious

While there were only 2 new non contentious Construction roles there were 7 new Construction Litigation roles. As with Competition, this is well up on the average of 2 new roles per month and shows a real burst of activity.

Restructuring & Insolvency: Increase in Activity

Restructuring & Insolvency saw 5 new roles in March, up from just 1 in January and 2 in February. That’s a clear uptick in hiring activity in the practice area.

It will be interesting to see whether this momentum carries into April - particularly given restructuring’s typically counter-cyclical nature, which can often signal shifting underlying market conditions.

Overview

With 146 new roles recorded in March, firms still appear to be happy to be hiring at a higher rate than 2025. However, with a reduction in the overall number of active roles, firms may not be as bullish as they were at the beginning of the year, which may be a direct impact of the events in the Middle East.

April should be an informative month, if the impact of the oil price spikes proves to be temporary, then we might see another surge in roles. We will be keeping a close eye on Corporate as this tends to be a key indicator: at present numbers are relatively low, so we would be looking to see if there is a pick up in the next few months.

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Breakdown by Practice Areas

Transactional Roles:

At the beginning of April, 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:  46 roles (three being PSL roles) - seven with US firms, 34 with UK international/global firms and five with City/regional firm.  There were 16 new roles added to firms’ careers’ sites during March.

• Corporate:  26 roles - seven with US firms, 14 with international firms and five with City/regional firms. There were seven new roles added to firms’ careers’ sites during March.

• Restructuring/Insolvency:  10 roles - two with US firms, five with UK international/global firms and three with City/regional firms). Five of the roles were new, having been added to the firms’ careers’ site since the beginning of March.

Number of live London transactional roles advertised directly by firms

Advisory Practice areas:

At the beginning of April, 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: Eight roles - two with US firms and six with UK international firms. Seven of the roles were new having been added to firms’ careers’ sites during March.

• Employment - 35 roles (including two PSL roles) - three with US firms, 14 with UK international firms and 18 with City/regional firms. There were 11 new roles added to firms’ careers’ sites during March.

• FS/Regulatory - Five roles (including one PSL role) -  four with UK international firms and one with a city/regional firm. There were three new roles added to firms’ careers’ sites during March.

• Funds - Six roles (including one PSL role)  Two with US firms and four with international firms.   Three of the roles were new, having been added to the firms’ careers’ site since the beginning of March.

• Incentives - Seven roles.  Two with US firms, four with UK international firm and one with a City/regional firm.  There were four new roles added to firms’ careers’ sites during March.

• Pensions - 14 roles (including three PSL roles) - Eight 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 March.

• Tax - 17 roles (including one tax litigation role and one PSL roles) - two with US firms, 10 with international firms and five with regional/City firms. There were two new roles added to firms’ careers’ sites during March.

Number of live London Advisory roles advertised directly by firms

Litigation:

At the beginning of April, 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, 12 with international firms and four with regional/city boutiques). Seven of the roles were new, having been added to the firms’ careers’ site since the beginning of March.

• Real Estate Litigation - 10 roles - two 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 March.

• Insurance Litigation - 16 roles. 11 with international firms and five with city/regional firms. Seven of the roles were new, having been added to firms’ careers’ site since the beginning of March.

• Personal Injury (including clinical negligence) - 11 roles.  Nine with international firms, and two with City/Regional firms).  Nine of the roles were new, having been added to firms’ careers’ site since the beginning of March.

• Specialist Litigation - 18 roles - seven with international firms and 11 with city/regional firms.  Four of the roles were new, having been added to the firms’ careers’ site since the beginning of March.

Number of live London Litigation roles advertised directly by firms

Construction, Planning and Real Estate:

At the beginning of April, 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 – 19 roles (including one PSL role) - seven with international firms, 12 with City/regional firms).  Two of the roles were new, having been added to the firms’ careers’ site since the beginning of March.

• Construction Litigation - 16 roles.  Six with international firms and ten with City/Regional firm).  Seven of the roles were new since the beginning of March.

• Planning - Three roles.  Two with international firms and one with City/regional firms).  One of the roles was new since the beginning of March.

• Commercial Real Estate - 21 roles (including one PSL roles). One with a US firms, nine with international firms and 11 with City/regional firms).  Six of the roles were new, having been added to the firms’ careers’ site since the beginning of March.

Number of live London Construction, Planning and Real Estate roles advertised directly by firms

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.