What Summer Tells Us About Legal Recruitment
Every year around this time, I start hearing the same thing:
“We’ll pick this back up in September.”
“Let’s hold off until after holidays.”
“We’re not expecting much movement over the summer.”
And every year, without fail, some of the best placements I make happen in July and August. There’s a myth that legal hiring shuts down in the summer months. But the firms that move the needle while everyone else is on pause? They’re not waiting for autumn to make decisions. They’re hiring now.
Because here’s what summer really tells us about legal recruitment:
1. The pace changes—but that’s not always a bad thing. Yes, people go on holiday. Yes, decisions can take longer. But there’s also less noise. Less urgency for urgency’s sake. A bit more space to think carefully about the kind of person you need, and to run a calmer, more intentional process. And from a candidate’s perspective, that’s incredibly appealing.
2. People reflect differently in the summer. When the weather changes and the out-of-office replies start pinging, people get a bit more honest with themselves. It’s a natural time to pause and take stock, especially for those who promised themselves they’d “see how things go this year.”
Some of the best conversations I have happen with people who aren’t necessarily unhappy, but who realise, over a long weekend or a quiet Friday—that they don’t want to be in the same place by Christmas.
3. Less competition = more opportunity. Hiring in summer gives you access to brilliant candidates who won’t still be around by the time the September surge hits. They’re quietly looking now, or open to a conversation, and if you move quickly, you won’t be one of five firms fighting over them later.
4. Candidates are still moving. In the past fortnight alone, I’ve placed candidates into permanent and interim roles—many of them working around their own holidays, or starting in September after giving notice now.
Just because the sun’s out doesn’t mean ambitions switch off. If anything, summer often gives people the clarity to act. So if you’re a hiring manager thinking of pressing pause, don’t. Use this time. Even if you just start a conversation now and complete the process in early September, you’ll be ahead of the curve.
And if you’re a candidate feeling that quiet itch, the one that says you could be doing something more, summer is as good a time as any to take that first step. There’s no perfect season to move. Just the right moment. And it might be now.
