Young lawyers in demand

Press, 19 June 1986, Page 6

Young lawyers in demand

PA Wellington After years of over supply, young lawyers are becoming a comparatively scarce and desirable commodity, says the Wellington District Law Society. The society’s president, Mr David Hurley, said the increasing use made by the business world of law graduates was the main factor in the change from surplus to comparative scarcity. The direct competition with the business sector that law firms were experiencing had yet to cause practical problems for the law firms, he said. There was still no absolute scarcity of law graduates. Business firms had found that a law degree

was an effective training for a business career, he said. Mr Hurley’s comments were backed up by a number of Wellington practitioners. One said the general recruiting for law graduates had yet to be a problem. However, there was real difficulty in finding people with specialist skills and two or three years experience. Lawyers with a speciality in the commercial area were particularly difficult to find, he said. With the changes in the business world in the last few years and Government deregulation, such lawyers were in high demand. Some had also moved to Australia and found work there, he said.