What Law Firm Career Pages Tell Us About the London Legal Recruitment Market

Every month we review the career pages of more than 170 law firms to see which legal roles are being advertised directly by firms.

We originally began doing this for a practical reason: to make it easier for the lawyers we work with to understand what is actually active in the market, discover which firms put more effort into trying to attract direct applications, and clarify which firms tend not to advertise roles publicly.

However, over time the data has become useful for something else as well - it offers a simple, objective snapshot of the health of the London legal hiring market.

By tracking how many roles firms advertise, how quickly they are filled, and how those trends change over time, we can start to answer some of the questions that it is sensible for lawyers to be asking:

• How does the market this year compare to last year?

• Are firms hiring more or less actively?

• Are roles staying open for longer?

• Is now a good time to look at moving practice area or firm?

While it is not a perfect picture of the entire market, it provides a consistent and useful proxy for overall hiring confidence.

The Rackle 70

Not all of the 170 firms are consistent in the way that they advertise roles on their websites. Some only sporadically advertise roles whilst others are more consistent in their approach.

To ensure the data remains meaningful, we focused our analysis on just 70 firms which were firms that over the last two years have consistently advertised roles on their careers pages. These firms break down into:

• 34 UK international firms

• 26 City / Regional firms with London offices

• 10 US firms

Although not all of these firms advertise all of their roles on their career pages, we have picked the firms that tend to advertise at least 50% or more. While our analysis won't capture every position in the market, using a consistent group of firms over time allows us to track reliable trends.

The result is not a perfect dataset - but it can serve as a good barometer of the direction of travel in the London legal market.

It is also a very helpful baseline for lawyers to have when speaking with recruiters. You will know what the visible market data is showing and then you can see what recruiters are able to add in terms of confidential searches and unadvertised roles that sit behind the scenes.

New Roles Being Advertised

The first trend we analysed is the number of new roles being advertised each month. (See below chart).

Over the past two years this number has increased significantly. In January 2024, the Rackle 70 firms advertised 69 new roles, but by January 2026, that figure had risen to 106 roles.

That represents a 53% increase in new roles entering the market. This kind of growth typically signals improving confidence among firms as firms tend to advertise more positions when demand for legal services is strong and when internal approval processes for hiring become easier.

A chart of the number of new roles advertised each month by The Rackle 70 firms

Total Active Roles in the Market

The second metric we analysed is the total number of active roles being advertised at any given time.

Here we see another clear increase. In January 2024, there were 235 live roles being advertised by the Rackle 70. By January 2026, that number had increased to 294 roles — a 25% rise.

A chart of the number of active roles advertised each month by The Rackle 70 firms

While this increase is smaller than the growth in new roles being posted each month, it tells an important story when viewed alongside the other data.

Roles Are Being Filled Faster

If firms are posting significantly more new roles, but the total number of live roles has increased by a smaller margin, it suggests something important - roles are being filled more quickly.

When we look at the data on roles being closed, that appears to be exactly what is happening.

The average time a role stays open has fallen from around 4.5 months to 3.5 months.

A chart of the average number of months roles were left active on The Rackle 70 firm's websites before being removed.

In other words, firms are:

• Hiring more roles

• Filling them faster

• Leaving fewer vacancies open for long periods

This is typically a strong indicator that candidate demand is rising.

What Does This Tell Us About the Market?

Taken together, the trends point in the same direction. Compared with 2024 and 2025:

• The number of new roles being advertised is increasing

• The total number of active roles is rising

• The speed at which firms fill positions is accelerating

All of this suggests that confidence in the London legal hiring market is improving.

Of course, the events unfolding internationally add a note of uncertainty. Whether the conflict involving Iran will materially change the direction the London market is heading in remains to be seen. What we can say is that the data over the past two years shows a market that has been steadily gaining momentum. If that trend continues, 2026 should offer more opportunities for lawyers considering a move than we’ve seen in the past couple of years.