The economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic are having a big impact on law firms and will affect their jobs and recruitment.

Overall Impact 

With this Covid-19 outbreak legal work has been reduced suddenly and significantly with overall revenues down considerably. It is also taking longer for firms to get paid for work already done (or, in the worst cases, not getting paid at all) and this has become a big problem for many firms.  Bear in mind most firms still carry most pre-virus operating expenses such as staff wages, insurance and rent (furlough leave if it has been taken up, only helps to a limited extent). And these firms have a lot less revenue coming in.

The Norfolk & Norwich Law Society is celebrating the achievements of the region’s trainees and junior lawyers, along with the outstanding achievements throughout the year, with the NNLS Excellence Awards 2019.  

https://www.olsenrecruitment.com/excellence-awards-2019/

The Norfolk & Norwich Law Society Excellence Awards 2018, sponsored by Olsen Recruitment, were presented at the annual Law Society Dinner on 21 September 2018 by Sue Bailey, President of the Norfolk & Norwich Law Society.  [Read more…]

Olsen Recruitment is once again sponsoring the Norfolk & Norwich Law Society’s Excellence Awards 2018.  The categories and shortlist is below [Read more…]

When a solicitor or other lawyer is approached about a particular opportunity or is open to the possibility of a move, it is desirable to know what their reasons are for considering such a move. This helps ensure all sides understand each other and any potential outcome is a good one.

There are six main reasons why lawyers will look to move on from their current firm. [Read more…]

A following or loyal client base can be highly beneficial if you are considering a move to another law firm. It is particularly attractive to firms considering senior “new hires”.  Having one is also likely to mean your overall job security is very good.  [Read more…]

The Norfolk & Norwich Law Society Excellence Awards 2017, sponsored by Olsen Recruitment, were presented at the annual Law Society Dinner on 21 September 2017 by David Richards, President of the Norfolk & Norwich Law Society and Clive Coleman, English Barrister turned BBC News Legal Correspondent. [Read more…]

The shortlist of nominations for the Trainee Lawyer of the Year and Junior Lawyer of the Year is as follows.

Trainee Lawyer of the Year

• Inderpreet Heire at Mills & Reeve
• Joe Keeping at Clapham & Collinge
• Anna Willis at Birketts

[Read more…]

Background

Since 1964 and up until July 2013, individuals were not required to pay any fees to take their claims to a tribunal (Parliament, UK).

From July 2013, the coalition government put a fee system in place, meaning that any individual who wanted to take their claim to an employment tribunal, had to pay a fee to do so.  Those fees varied according to the type of claim and the person’s individual wealth.   [Read more…]

Last night’s Law Society Treasure Hunt, sponsored by Olsen Recruitment, kicked off in Norwich’s St Andrews Tavern from 6 pm.  More than 15 teams from law firms and professional services firms went on a pub crawl across various venues in Norwich in an attempt to find the quiz answers.  A buffet and informal networking followed from 8.30 pm and the event concluded at 9.45 pm.   [Read more…]

One way a recruitment agent (such as Olsen Recruitment) can help you, is to improve your CV so that the target market (usually, but not always, law firm partners) will want to take matters further and meet with you for an initial chat or interview.   [Read more…]

The Norfolk & Norwich Law Society (NNLS) is celebrating the achievements of the region’s trainees and junior lawyers, along with the outstanding achievements throughout the year, with the NNLS Excellence Awards 2017 (which are sponsored by Olsen Recruitment). [Read more…]

Background: The USA situation

In some states in America it has become, or is due to become, illegal for employers and recruiters to ask about current salary or historical salary.  The reason is to attempt to close or significantly reduce the gender pay gap in the US.  The background behind this can be summarised as follows:

• Most employers/recruiters ask for salary information upfront in order to help develop an offer.
• Most employers base their offer, at least in part, on what salary a person has been earning prior to that.  So, in an offer of employment, where a range of salary has not been advertised, the salary is typically a slight uplift on the person’s previous salary.
• However, because in the US women and minorities are, on average, earning less than white males, an employer basing a salary offer on historical salary/current salary, is likely to mean this difference or gap in pay remains.

[Read more…]

Currently solicitors qualify in a number of ways. Those ways have been outlined by us in our LinkedIn post here

The most common route for a solicitor to qualify is:

1. By completing a qualifying law degree (or completing the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) if their undergraduate was not a qualifying law degree)
2. By completing the Legal Practice Course (the LPC)
3. By gaining a two year training contract in a law firm/in-house legal team (also called the “period of recognised training”)
4. By completing the Professional Skills Course (PSC); and
5. By being admitted to the Roll of Solicitors (and passing the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) character and suitability requirements)

[Read more…]

Thursday 22 June 2017 from 6 pm

Registration venue: St Andrews Brew House, 41 St Andrews Street, Norwich NR2 4TP

Teams: Maximum of four people per team

Cost: £20 per team [Read more…]

Whatever your reasons might be for considering a move in-house, it is necessary to first check your career goals and then look at some of the differences between being in a private practice role and working in-house. To help you, listed below are some of the factors that you should think about before you take any action. [Read more…]

Failure to follow instructions/poor attention to detail

Follow the firm’s application details and method of selection.  For example, if the instructions are a CV (two pages maximum) plus a one page cover letter addressed to a specific person, then prepare a CV (two pages maximum) plus a one page cover addressed to the specific person.

If the firm’s minimum qualification is a “2:1 degree in any discipline”, do not apply if you achieved a 2:2 or 3^rd without talking to the law firm/recruitment consultant first to ask their advice. [Read more…]

Olsen Recruitment is pleased to be exhibiting at the University of East Anglia’s Legal Careers Fair on Wednesday 9 November 2016 from 12-3 pm.

[Read more…]

Date: Tuesday 15 November 2016

Registration and Refreshments: 5:00pm welcome drinks and nibbles

Venue: The Enterprise Centre

UEA Presentation: 5:45pm – 7:00pm

Sir Brandon Gough Lecture Theatre Parking: Main UEA Carpark (£2) [Read more…]

[Read more…]

The Norfolk & Norwich Law Society Excellence Awards 2016, sponsored by Olsen Recruitment, were presented at the annual Law Society Dinner on 8 September 2016 by Robert Bourns, President of the Law Society of England & Wales and James Hunter, President of the Norfolk & Norwich Law Society. [Read more…]

[Read more…]

The deadline for nominations for this year’s Norfolk & Norwich Law Society Excellence Awards is 26 August 2016. [Read more…]

I recently registered a lawyer in her late 50s – let’s call her “Mary” and, during the first five minutes of our meeting she asked: “Am I too old to be employable?”. My response was this: “In a nutshell, no.”

[Read more…]

It is never a good idea to lie in the context of the recruitment and appointment process, whether it be on a CV or during an interview. The consequences can be severe.  Some examples of lying are discussed below. [Read more…]

Last night’s Law Society Treasure Hunt, sponsored by Olsen Recruitment, kicked off in Norwich’s Dog House at 6 pm.  More than 20 teams from law firms, in-house legal teams and professional services firms went on a pub crawl across various venues in Norwich in an attempt to find the quiz answers.  A buffet and informal networking followed from 8 pm and the event concluded at 9.30 pm.   [Read more…]

Olsen Recruitment, Aviva Legal Indemnities and the Norfolk and Norwich Law Society recently sponsored the Eastern Legal Support Trust’s Norwich  Legal Walk, which took place on Monday 18 April 2016.  The ELST raises and distributes funds to charities which provide free legal advice, help and support services to vulnerable members of the local community. [Read more…]

A counter-offer is the offer of improved terms and conditions of employment on receipt of a resignation.  In practice, this might mean:

• An improved salary offer (either immediately or at some point in the future)
• A promotion (either immediately or at some point in the future)

[Read more…]

Introduction

A lateral or sideways career move is usually defined as a move to an equivalent position within a law firm or to a similar position/level in a new law firm. In both cases this means a similar job title with similar remuneration. It is now common for solicitors and partners to make at least one lateral move in their careers for a number of reasons (see next section). It is also common to see law firms take on lateral hires to fill vacancies. [Read more…]

As in many professions, newly qualified (NQ) solicitors often move firms for the following reasons:

• To have exposure to further or higher-quality training
• To work alongside well-known partners/industry experts
• To experience a different type of work (for instance some solicitors will be attracted by the complexity of higher-net-worth individual work or the size of larger corporate deals)
• To become more specialised (e.g. only in company commercial work)
• To to have a higher degree of client contact than that offered by, say, volume conveyancing work

[Read more…]

This article is relevant if you’re thinking about approaching the partners/directors at your current firm for a pay rise, or if you have been offered a position but feel the salary is not attractive enough for you to join the new firm. Note that a recruitment consultant is often in a good position to advise you when you have leverage to negotiate on salary – and when you do not. [Read more…]

As one of your New Year Resolutions, have you decided to move to a new job? If so, you will likely have to find a recruitment consultant you trust to help you make a smooth transition to a new position.  Olsen Recruitment can help your transition from holding an initial meeting with you to arranging interviews and bringing your job search to a successful conclusion.
[Read more…]

Whether you’re “in the market” or not, imagine you have been approached by a recruiter about an interesting opportunity.  How do you assess the opportunity? What should you do?

[Read more…]

Imagine this scenario

You are dissatisfied at work and you see an advertisement for a position that very much interests you and or you were approached by a recruiter in relation to a particular vacancy. [Read more…]

In the UK a ‘lawyer’ is a generic term used to describe anyone who is a Licensed Legal Practitioner qualified to give legal advice.  The term ‘lawyer’ therefore describes:

[Read more…]

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Staff shortages

[Read more…]

I have recently attended two CPD events which touched upon the effectiveness of recruitment campaigns and why it is increasingly becoming normal in human resources (HR) circles to refer to the quality/value of the recruitment process rather than the cost. For example, HR experts now look at a recruitment campaign’s quality, effectiveness, time and value rather than just its cost. [Read more…]

A large number of small, mid-size and larger law firms are regularly counter-offering their staff on receipt of a resignation.  The scenario is a common one: a valued, well-respected member of staff has an interview/chat with another firm (typically, but not always, a competitor) and when they go to resign at their current firm, the firm reacts by asking that person to stay by offering an incentive to do so (typically, but not always, a higher salary, a promotion, or the future promise of one or both of these things).   [Read more…]

In discussions with various law firm partners and HR managers/officers, most appear to be looking to recruit staff who: [Read more…]