Law firms hire graduates at near-record levels

Law firms have maintained near-record graduate hiring levels this year despite the slowing legal market, as senior leaders look to attract and retain their share of the talent pool in the still-competitive labour market.

In the year to July, the 46 firms that provided graduate data for the Australian Financial Review Law Partnership Survey reported employing 1535 entry-level lawyers in 2022-23, down slightly from last year’s record of 1560.