Last winter, Stephen Danvers, director of Arlyn Recruiting and man plugged into the state of law firm staffing, gave a talk on local market conditions to the BC Para-legal Association. The big takeaway: the Vancouver legal industry is growing faster than paralegal pro-grams can produce new grads. Fast forward one year and the sentiment rings even truer than before. As the disparity between supply and demand continues to widen with every passing season, firms are turning to recruiters for help.
While Danvers can’t do anything about the number of qualified candidates, the industry veteran is able to offer insight into the factors behind the changing state of the Vancouver legal market — and how new grads can make the most of it.
“We’ve seen new international and national firms moving into the legal sector here, meaning we’ve seen the growth of larger firms, as well as boutique and in-house roles,” Danvers says. “We’re seeing online legal services here such as e-Mediation and e-Negotiation supporting that growth along other new technologies: virtual legal libraries and the utilization of telecommuting, increased use of smartphones and tablets. It’s unreal how fast things are moving in the legal market and how the law firms are trying to keep up.”
While firms would have traditionally hired one staff member to support one or two lawyers, they’re now hiring the same individuals to work alongside up to five lawyers and sometimes more. Yet it hasn’t reduced the number of jobs. In the past, corporations would have worked with larger law firms to meet their legal needs. Now they’re starting to build in-house teams, as have companies within the tech, mining and film industries.
“We have more roles than we have people, so it is definitely a candidate’s marketplace, which is interesting. Candidates have been sitting tight on their jobs and maybe not wanting to make a shift because they’re concerned about the economy or concerned about what’s happening in the States — we’re not sure why.”
For clients, that translates to taking on more junior candidates for open positions and accessing any resources available to find qualified support staff. And for new grads? While there may be more opportunity than in years past, new candidates still need to have legal experience inside a firm to land a solid job. Excelling in a practicum placement, Danvers says, is the best way to start a career.
“After they’ve obtained two years of experience, then they’re in a position to move their career forward and they become a commodity.”
Expectations need to be managed and the first year in the industry is a tough one, regardless of market conditions. Still, the prospects are brighter than ever for junior staff, who continue to find permanent roles out of practicum placements. This summer, one firm took on six junior paralegals from a local program and hired them all on permanently.
“That’s unheard of — and that’s the market,” Danvers says.
Legal Administrative Assistant and paralegal pro-grams are full and have been for the last few years, but is the rate of growth sustainable? Will legal hopefuls find the market has shifted before their diplomas are printed?
“The positions are going to remain solid, meaning the marketplace is still reacting to the current conditions in Canada and the current conditions are very positive for business,” Danvers says, noting that it would take an event similar to the downturn of 2009 to slow hiring.
“Right now the local market in British Columbia has been one of the strongest markets in the county. Recruitment hasn’t been able to keep up with the growth.”
