2025 Legal Job Market

Leaders in the legal field face numerous hurdles, including using outdated tech, change management challenges and staffing shortages. Competition for skilled talent is fierce due to low unemployment in the field and an ongoing trend among legal professionals to seek better work-life balance and more predictable hours.

The digital revolution in this field is challenging law firms and corporate legal departments to invest in new technology to keep pace with increased work demands and competitors. To support and implement these investments, they also need to hire legal professionals with digital skills and expertise.

Strategic priorities for 2025

Corporate legal and law firm leaders shared what they’re focusing on this year:

AI and legal technology integration

Expanding into new specializations or practice areas

Inclusion efforts

Data security and privacy compliance

Technology implementation and automation

Data security and privacy compliance

Compliance and regulatory affairs

AI innovation and governance

Outdated
technology Cross-
functional
collaboration Budget
constraints for
headcount Employee
engagement Change
management Outdated
technology Cross-
functional
collaboration Budget
constraints for
headcount Employee
engagement Change
management

Tech reshapes demand for legal skills

Continued integration of technology is significantly changing how legal services are performed. Law firms and corporate legal teams increasingly use AI and machine learning to analyze thousands of documents, assess relevance and forecast litigation outcomes. Legal organizations need people who can:

Master advanced legal research platforms using natural language processing

Effectively use AI contract analysis tools to identify risks

Use data visualization to clearly present complex legal information

of legal leaders reported skills gaps within their department

said the impact of those gaps has increased in the past year.

Where skills gaps are most evident according to leaders

Paralegal, legal assistant and operations (43%)

Legal support and records (39%)

Law firm administration (38%)

Legal research and analysis (38%)

Legal operations and efficiencies (35%)

Litigation support and eDiscovery (35%)

Legal support and records (34%)

Corporate counsel (34%)

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Almost all legal leaders plan to add new staff or at least maintain headcounts to deliver on top business priorities. Yet 99% said it’s challenging to find skilled talent in the current market.

of legal leaders are hiring for new permanent positions.

are hiring only for vacated permanent positions.

Hiring plans for 2025: contract professionals

71% of legal leaders said they’re increasing their use of contract talent. They also shared the difficulties they’re having finding these professionals.

Difficulty assessing skills and experience

Finding candidates who align with corporate culture

Lack of skilled candidates

Meeting candidates’ pay expectations

Legal professionals in highest demand

The following positions are in the top 15% of in-demand legal roles, according to an analysis of thousands of job postings and Robert Half placements:

Contract administrator, 1-3 years’ experience

Contract manager, 4-9 years’ experience

Lawyer/attorney, 10+ years’ experience

Lawyer/attorney, 2-3 years’ experience

Midlevel paralegal, 4-6 years’ experience

Paralegal, 2-3 years’ experience

Article: Learn more about the top roles in demand

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The surveys cited were developed by Robert Half and conducted by an independent research firm. Results may not total 100% due to rounding or allowing for multiple responses. Respondents included executives, hiring managers and workers from small (10-99 employees), midsize (100-999 employees) and large (1,000+ employees) businesses in private, publicly listed and public sector organizations across the U.S.

Over 6 million new positions from more than 8,000 independent job boards and company websites, including 100,000+ placements from Robert Half, are represented in our analyses of in-demand roles. This dataset includes roles across the finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, administrative and customer support, healthcare support, and human resources professions.