One clear shift our consultants have noticed in the legal recruitment space this year is how law firms are approaching hiring decisions.
Traditionally, locum, temporary and fixed-term contract roles were mainly used to cover maternity leave, sickness, annual leave, or increased workloads. However, since late 2025, LR Legal have noticed a significant shift; firms are now often using locum and FTC arrangements to assess a candidate for long-term fit before committing to a permanent hire.
More firms are now offering short-term placements and temp-to-perm opportunities as part of a more cautious and strategic hiring approach, influenced in part by recent changes in employment law and wider market uncertainty.
What’s particularly interesting is that locum and FTC hiring is no longer being viewed as a last resort. Instead, firms are recognising the wider benefits:
- greater flexibility during busy periods
- access to specialist expertise
- reduced long-term hiring risk
- protection against team burnout
- more agility in a changing market
The firms most likely to thrive in 2026 will be those viewing talent as a dynamic resource, rather than simply a fixed cost.
We’d be interested to hear whether others across the market are seeing similar shifts in hiring strategy – what do you think? Let us know.
