The Rackle Legal Hiring Index | November 2026
The London legal recruitment market maintained much of its momentum during October, following the significant post-summer increase recorded in September. The Rackle Legal Hiring Index eased slightly from 130 to 124, with 137 new roles advertised during the month.
Although recruitment activity moderated, the Index remained comfortably above the 110 recorded in October 2025, suggesting a stronger autumn hiring market than this time last year.
Executive Summary.
The Rackle Legal Hiring Index decreased from 130 to 124 (-6 points).
125 new roles were advertised, down from 135 in September.
There were 352 active vacancies during the month.
134 vacancies closed during October, compared with 95 in September.
68 of the 80 firms recruited during the month, compared with 69 in September.
Banking & Finance remained the busiest practice area with 15 new roles, while Employment and Real Estate each recorded 12. Corporate generated 11 new opportunities.
What this means:
October's figures suggest that the increase in recruitment activity seen during September was not simply a short-lived post-summer rebound.
Although the Hiring Index eased from 130 to 124, the number of new roles remained relatively stable, with 125 advertised during October compared with 135 in September.
Importantly, the Index was also above the 110 recorded in October 2025, indicating a healthier level of advertised recruitment activity than at the same point last year.
There were, however, some interesting changes beneath the headline figures.
Banking & Finance and Corporate continued to generate significant numbers of new opportunities, although both saw recruitment moderate following September's particularly strong performance.
Real Estate was one of the standout areas, recording 12 new roles, while Employment continued to demonstrate sustained demand with another 12 vacancies.
October also saw a substantial increase in vacancy closures, from 95 in September to 134. While vacancies can close for several reasons, the higher level of closures alongside continued new recruitment activity suggests a market in which opportunities are turning over rather than simply accumulating.
The breadth of recruitment remained remarkably consistent, with 68 firms recruiting across 29 different practice areas.
The Numbers
Metric | Current Month | Previous Month | Trend (last 3 months) |
Hiring Index | 124 | 130 | Mixed |
New Roles | 125 | 135 | Mixed |
Active Vacancies | 352 | 349 | Stable |
Vacancies Closed | 134 | 95 | Increasing |
Firms Hiring | 68 | 69 | Stable |
Practice Areas hiring | 29 | 30 | Stable |
What's Driving the Index?
Banking & Finance: Recruitment Remains Active
Banking & Finance remained the busiest practice area during October, recording 15 new roles, compared with 21 in September.
Although this represents a reduction, recruitment remained broad across the different areas of Finance. Six new roles were in Real Assets Finance, four in Banking/Acquisition Finance, three in DCM/Structured finance and two in specialist finance.
With 54 vacancies remaining live at the beginning of November, Banking & Finance continues to offer the largest pool of opportunities of any individual practice area.
Corporate: Activity Moderates Following September's Increase
Corporate recorded 11 new roles during October, compared with 19 in September.
This represents a return to the levels seen during July and August, following September's particularly strong month.
Nevertheless, with 34 vacancies remaining live at the beginning of November, Corporate continues to be one of the largest sources of opportunities across the London legal market.
The question will be whether September represented a temporary concentration of recruitment activity or an early indication of more sustained demand as firms look ahead to 2027.
Employment: Sustained Demand
Employment continued to be one of the most consistently active practice areas during October, recording 12 new roles compared with 11 in September.
This follows eight new roles in August, meaning Employment has generated 31 new opportunities over the past three months.
With 30 vacancies remaining live at the beginning of November, Employment continues to stand out as one of the strongest areas of recruitment outside the major transactional practices.
Real Estate: Another Strong Month
Real Estate was one of the standout practice areas during October, recording 12 new roles, up from 10 in September.
This represents a significant improvement on the three new roles advertised during August.
With 21 vacancies remaining live at the beginning of November, the sustained increase in Real Estate recruitment is particularly encouraging given the more subdued activity seen earlier in the summer.
Overview
October provided an encouraging follow-up to September's strong post-summer rebound.
The Rackle Legal Hiring Index eased only slightly from 130 to 124, while 137 new roles were advertised during the month.
Perhaps most importantly, the Index remained above its October 2025 level of 110, suggesting that recruitment activity is stronger than at the same time last year.
Banking & Finance and Corporate continued to generate substantial numbers of opportunities, although activity moderated following September's particularly strong performance. Meanwhile, Employment and Real Estate demonstrated sustained demand, and recruitment across specialist practices remained broad.
The significant increase in vacancy closures was another interesting development. With 134 roles closing during October, it will be worth watching whether this higher level of turnover continues over the coming months.
September's rebound was expected following the summer holiday period. October's figures suggest that much of the increased recruitment activity has been maintained.
The question now is whether the market can sustain these levels through the final two months of 2026, particularly as firms begin to look ahead to their recruitment requirements for next year.
If you are interested in exploring the new roles or the current ongoing roles that were covered by our Hiring index, you can see these in our Opportunity Tracker.
The Rackle Legal Hiring Index is an independent, proprietary measure designed to track changes in recruitment activity across the London private practice legal market, providing lawyers and firms with a consistent benchmark of market conditions over time.
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