I recently spoke about current legal hiring on a panel with Julieta Stubrin hosted by Silicon Legal Strategy. Some highlights:

1. Although hiring has slowed down significantly since the pandemic boom, it has not zeroed out. Julieta and I agreed hiring is still better than the financial crisis (’07-’08) and the dotbomb (’00). The jury is out on when the turnaround will take place because so many factors are in play: geopolitics, supply chain, inflation/interest rates, bank failure, etc.
2. Hiring is continuing in targeted areas, e.g., with earlier stage startups (late stage companies are waiting and seeing), at large companies repositioning themselves (yes they have laid off in some areas, but are hiring in re-prioritized areas), in new growing technologies (e.g., AI), with more traditional companies that could not compete in hiring during the tech boom (IT, health services, etc.), and for replacement positions of critical lawyers who have left their employer.
3. While salaries have stopped increasing, they have not really decreased yet. This is true for both firm and in-house.
4. The top ways to stand out in the job market include: getting referred/networking, getting the necessary skills for the jobs you want (e.g., taking classes, getting certified, doing contract work), and showing that you have those skills on LinkedIn/your resume/your pitch.