As the second half of the financial year begins, www.legaljobscentre.com has seen a steady increase in lawyers posting their CV’s and contacting recruitment executives. It’s not because they are out of work or even actively trying to leave; those lawyers are looking to make their next career move and are more comfortable with exploring opportunities.

Legal jobs that were advertised on the website in January 2011 cover vacancies located across Asia-Pacific, Australia/NZ and the Middle-East. During the first half of January, www.legaljobscentre.com saw an 8% increase in candidates signing up for job alerts. In terms of jobs in particular areas, private practice still has around 65% of all available openings. Within that group the corporate, banking & finance and ‘other’ categories have the most listings. Additionally, there are still over 100 listings for both litigation and mergers & acquisitions in private practice and corporate roles in in-house.

Recruitment firms in the region also agree with the assessment made by LJC. “Candidates are more receptive to hearing about opportunities in the market and to be updated about market movements, openings and a general sense of who’s hiring,” said Theresa Pang, senior consultant (governance and legal divisions) at Robert Walters’ Singapore office. Bonuses are expected to be paid post-Chinese New Year, which is the time when most are likely to move jobs, according to Ricky Mui, manager, Hong Kong legal division for Robert Walters. “We have seen candidates begin to look at market opportunities, especially among [those] who were not actively looking out for new opportunities previously.”

Another recruitment firm also based in Hong Kong, Atticus Legal, has noticed an increase in passive viewing over the summer months. “Seeking a new role when you are already in one does, stereotypically, stand a candidate in stronger stead and so now the GFC is over, this trend only makes sense. Candidates in existing roles follow the job market – if the market is mobile then passive job seeking is ordinarily high,” said Atticus Legal recruitment consultant Carmel Huber.

This trend has also been noticed by clients; both Pang and Mui agree their clients are focused on filling short-term immediate openings, but with the potential to move onto a permanent contract. “Clients are willing to see speculative CVs of top-tier candidates in anticipation of increased headcount and will interview candidates on this basis,” said Mui. Huber said it ultimately comes down to the relationships developed with clients. “If you are a trusted source of candidates and have a stellar applicant then clients won’t close themselves to ‘speculative’ applications,” she said.