A return to a buoyant recruitment market is expected in the banking and finance services sector, according to the latest Taylor Root Legal Market Survey.

Law firms claim there are too few legal job opportunities to allow for a "mass exodus" of employees beginning in February, after a survey by consultancy Chandler Macleod found 95 per cent of job candidates in Australia were looking for work.

There's some good news for the growing number of lawyers with itchy feet, with a recent survey showing that employers in the services sector have the most optimistic hiring expectations going into the first quarter 2010.

In stark contrast to their UK counterparts, Australian firms are standing strong when it comes to their summer clerk recruitment programs.

Recruitment strategies aren't exactly top of mind for law firms at the moment - unless you're talking about their insolvency practices.

Bronwyn Weir has proven that part-time lawyers can still become part-time partners, after being promoted to partner in the Construction & Major Projects group at Maddocks.

While the economic downturn has turned the recruitment tables in favour of employers, researchers are warning that companies need to be sensitive to employees during the redundancy process to avoid long-term damage to their employment brand.