December is usually one of the quieter periods for legal recruitment firms in Singapore and most expected that to be the case for 2010. However one agency, JLegal, has noticed that clients and hiring partners are keen to advertise now - before Christmas and New Year - to meet immediate demands in the market place.

Consultant Genevieve Chia confirmed that, compared to this time last year, she is extremely busy and is not expecting the pace to slow down. “We have a range of positions available at different levels from associate to partner and in-house roles as well,’ she said. There is also a good mix of specialisations available, ranging from arbitration to corporate work. Banking & finance work and roles within the larger financial institutions are less numerous, according to Chia.  

The reason for the increase is attributed to the larger than usual deal-flow in the Singapore market for this time of year. Chia confirmed that although there are a small handful of contract roles available, a surprising number of the current vacancies are permanent roles.

Lawyers looking to move in the New Year should consider starting the search process now, as it seems as though the firms have begun thinking about their hires early. “We have had to approach some candidates and say we can start the process now, even though we don’t expect everything to be wrapped up before Christmas. Some are a little reluctant to move yet, depending on where they are coming from,” Chia said.

Looking forward to 2011, Chia did not anticipate that increased activity now means that there will probably be less hires next year. Rather she hopes it is a sign of a buoyant economy and a higher than expected level of work in the current market.

In Hong Kong the situation is not quite as busy, however Ben Cooper, in-house consultant, CML, did sy that larger corporates and firms have been given approval to increase headcount and some were looking to fill positions before the new year because of the risk that the approval won't be there anymore after new year restructuring. Cooper said this is also true for smaller firms.