Recruitment Remains Key Challenge For Law Firms
Attracting and retaining personnel as UK and international players set up here has become a pinch point for Irish practices, writes
The influx of UK and international firms has had a significant impact on Ireland’s commercial law sector, at least in terms of personnel. According to the annual survey of large firms by Evelyn Partners, most Top 20 and Dublin-based firms report that new arrivals have presented challenges for recruiting and retaining partners and staff. Currently seven of the Top 20 firms in Ireland are international or UK firms, and almost all Top 20 firms view recruitment and staff retention as a key concern.
It’s not only the interlopers poaching staff. Established firms continue to use lateral hires as part of their growth strategies too, with Evelyn estimating that over 150 lateral hires were made by the Top 20 firms last year. Stephen Holst, who assumed the lead role at McCann FitzGerald in May 2022, notes that most new entrants to Ireland’s commercial law market adopt a lateral-hire policy.
“That said, we have seen a slowdown in that sort of associate recruitment in recent months, perhaps reflecting the growing unease in markets generally and the knock-on impact this has had on hiring strategies,” says Holst. “Ensuring we attract and retain the best is a strategic priority for the firm. With a focus on developing our own talent, the impact is probably less on a firm like ours than one that relies on a lateral-hire strategy.”
In May 2022, David Widger also stepped into the managing partner role, at A&L Goodbody. He says international law firms that have set up in Ireland are largely in niche sectors where access to the EU regulatory environment is important.
“This has caused some recruitment
pinch points locally, but overall it’s widening the pool of legal talent, which is good for Ireland,” says Widger. “What we have seen here, and in other European countries who have similarly experienced new entrants to the sector, is that large domestic law firms like ourselves are seeing strong demand from clients because of the full range of services that we offer. We find this full-service offering also continues to be very attractive from a retention and recruitment perspective.”
Widger is a keen exponent of the competitiveness of full-service law firms when it comes to handling complex transactions. “For example, in M&A it’s vital to have an experienced anti-trust team. Some of the biggest issues can be on the boundaries of the deal and not in the core area. You might have a niche practice which focuses exclusively on, say, tech or real estate or insurance, but there can be a multitude of matters that can have quite an impact on the transaction.”
A Goodbody innovation in 2022 was the launch of the ALG Solutions, which is made up of 70 personnel. This developed out of the firm’s experience in handling huge mandates, such as loan book sales, involving hundreds of thousands of documents. The expertise is now being offered to clients for projects where, as Widger describes it, “the knock-on consequences are so voluminous that outsourcing makes complete sense”.
John White at Beauchamps says that while new market entrants have had some impact on personnel, there are many other factors leading to staff churn, such as in-house roles becoming more attractive, the desire to travel after Covid, and movement between Irish firms becoming more common.
“Competition is probably at its greatest between the traditional players,” says White. “This competition for personnel reflects a general capacity shortage in Irish professions and indeed in the legal market right across the world, so new entrants are only a small part of the picture.”
James Duggan at O’Driscoll is of the view that the arrival of international firms in the Irish legal market has had varying levels of impact, with those with strong corporate practices having the greatest impact. “The question remains how many of these are in for the long haul,” Duggan muses.
He adds: “As a growing firm, we continue to invest time and money in developing and adapting our HR policies and strategies around our culture to attract and retain people that are the right fit for our firm and
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our client base. It is a competitive environment, and we have worked hard to ensure our offering focuses not only on compensation and benefit packages but also on training and development opportunities as well as a supportive and inclusive workplace culture.”
At Arthur Cox, managing partner Geoff Moore observes that the Dublin legal market has always been highly competitive. “This competition keeps us all on our toes and challenges us all to raise our game,” says Moore. “While we are never complacent, Dublin is a highly specialised, mature market and one in which it takes a lot of hiring and a lot of time to develop a full-service capability.
“As a leading independent firm with deep local knowledge, we remain well placed to deliver best-in-class service consistency, whether supporting domestic or international clients. We are also able to provide our people with access to the most interesting work and by ensuring flexible working practices
and first-class facilities, I believe that we remain a compelling place to work relative to new entrants,” Moore adds.
Ireland’s two largest international law firms are Maples and Calder and Eversheds Sutherland. “We have really capitalised on the change in the legal landscape and change of client base, which is looking for something more connected and joined up,” says Eversheds managing partner Alan Connell. Most top-tier Irish law firms have a focus on organic growth, but Connell bolted on niche practice Kenny Solicitors in June 2022. “It wasn’t a large firm but it did have a valuable expertise and an interesting client base,” Connell explains.
Graham Kenny’s expertise is restructuring, commercial litigation and real estate matters, so is Connell expecting a large uptick in insolvencies? “I think it will be different to what we saw after the financial crisis,” he says. “The banking sector is well capitalised and able to take a more longer term view than a decade ago. But there is no doubt that some businesses will need to restructure, and expertise in that area will be important.”