If you want to advertise a law job in the UK and attract skilled lawyers, you need more than just a job board listing. You need strategy, clarity, and a human touch. That’s where this guide comes in. At The Legists, we help legal employers post effective advertisements, refine recruitment campaigns, and secure the best candidates.
In this blog, we’ll walk you through every step—choosing your platforms, crafting a compelling advert, establishing your employer brand, measuring success, and, most importantly, attracting top-tier legal talent.
Why You Need a Targeted Recruitment Strategy
Before posting your job advert, you need to set goals and understand your audience.
Define Your Role Clearly
Are you hiring a junior solicitor, legal counsel, or litigation partner? Determine responsibilities, required experience, qualifications, and preferred soft skills. When you nail your job spec, applicants know exactly what you’re looking for.
Understand Your Audience
Different roles appeal to different candidates. Graduates focus on training contracts and law firms. Experienced lawyers look for career development, salary progression, or sector-switch opportunities. In‑house counsel want autonomy and business alignment.
By knowing your candidate profile, you can tailor messaging to match their motivations and career stage.
Where to Advertise a Law Job in the UK
Choosing the right channels makes all the difference when advertising legal roles.
Specialist Legal Job Boards
Platforms like Law Gazette Jobs, Legal Week Jobs, or Solicitors Journal target active legal jobseekers. Advertisers often gain more traction here, compared to general job sites.
Niche Aggregators and Social Media
LinkedIn offers powerful targeting. Jobseekers and passive candidates see your ad in their feeds. You can refine by experience level, location, and specialism. Twitter and Facebook also support targeted outreach.
Recruitment Agencies
Agencies like The Legists specialise in legal recruitment. We maintain long-term settlement with law firms and build talent pipelines—so we quickly present high-quality candidates. Secure your role with us to access passive, in-demand talent pools.
University and Student Platforms
If you’re advertising training contracts or paralegal placements, partner with law school job portals and apprenticeship sites. Top candidates often explore opportunities through university channels.
How to Create a Standout Job Advert
A strong advert sets the tone for your recruitment process and attracts talent fast.
Write an Engaging Job Title
Spell out the job level and specialism—for example, “Commercial Litigation Associate” or “Senior Real Estate Solicitor.” Note whether you allow remote or flexible work. Clear titles attract better matches.
Start with a Compelling Summary
In two sentences, entice candidates. Highlight what makes your firm or role unique. That grabs attention—even among hundreds of adverts.
List Core Responsibilities
Use bullets to outline day-to-day duties:
Manage commercial disputes from initial review to court filings
Draft and negotiate contracts
Mentor junior solicitors
Advise clients on commercial real estate transactions
How to Humanize Your Job Advert
Legal employers often miss the human aspect—but that’s key. Humanized adverts resonate better with candidates.
Showcase Your Firm’s Culture
Talk about flexibility, collaboration, pro bono work. Share real stories—like a junior solicitor who led a local community project. Human stories connect better than buzzwords.
Highlight Career Progression
Candidates want to grow. Outline structured training paths, mentorship schemes, secondments, or fee earner progression posts. Showing that you invest in development builds trust.
Offer Authentic Benefits
Yes, list perks like healthcare and pension—but also mention real benefits: hybrid work, mental health support, training budgets. Those details show you care about employee welfare.
What to Include in the Job Spec
Get this section right to boost responses.
Qualifications & Requirements
List essential qualifications—LLB, SQE pass, admissions—plus years of PQE, litigation or commercial experience, or specific technical expertise.
Must-Have Skills
Focus on communication, negotiation, client-care, drafting accuracy, and tech fluency. These soft skills often determine candidate success.
Nice-to-Have Attributes
Include language skills, sector knowledge, or Accreditations. That helps differentiate between good and exceptional candidates.
Location & Remote Flexibility
The legal market embraces hybrid work. Specify where office presence matters, and highlight remote days or flexible schedules.
Salary & Compensation
When possible, publish a broad salary range. Including a salary range increases applications by 30–50%. Plus, you appear more transparent and trustworthy.
How to Promote Your Advert Beyond Posting
A good advertisement gains traction—don’t limit posting to job boards.
Use Paid Promotions and Sponsored Ads
On LinkedIn or legal job boards, sponsored ads get priority placement. That helps you reach ideal candidates faster.
Leverage Your Internal Network
Ask your legal team or existing employees to share your advert. Referrals often bring in high-quality candidates lacking advertised profiles.
Highlight Your Brand Story
Create a “Day in the Life” video of your legal team. Show employee testimonials. Storytelling builds authenticity and emotional connection.
Host Virtual or In-Person Q&A
Invite candidates to 30-minute sessions where they can ask about the role and culture. Direct engagement builds trust—even before applications start.
How to Screen & Shortlist Candidates
Once applications roll in, evaluate them in a thoughtful and consistent way.
Use Scoring Criteria
Design a scorecard based on qualifications, experience, technical skills, culture fit. Each section gets a score. You’ll compare objectively, instead of guessing based on CV layout.
Conduct Pre‑Screening Calls
Talk for 15 minutes to test communication skills, motivation, and role clarity. You can clarify CV points or interest level before committing to a full interview.
Offer Practical Skills Tests
For solicitor roles, ask candidates to draft a clause, redline a contract, or prepare a case summary. That gives you insight into drafting ability and legal reasoning.
Involve Senior Stakeholders
Bring in partner or team lead for final rounds. Their presence helps assess technical depth, cultural fit, and team dynamics.
How to Measure Recruitment Success
Tracking these metrics helps you refine your hiring strategy.
Time-to-Fill Positions
Track how long roles stay open—from posting to acceptance. Efficient hires save time and money.
Application Quality Ratio
Monitor the ratio between applicants and hires. Low applications indicate limited outreach. Too many low-quality ones suggest you can narrow your targeting.
Candidate Experience
Collect feedback on the application experience, communications, and interview process. Candidate sentiment reflects on your brand.
Hiring Manager Feedback
Report back to hiring teams on candidate quality, process efficiency, and cultural fit. Adjust your tactics to meet their expectations.
How The Legists Makes Advertising Law Jobs Easy
We help firms at every stage—from identifying roles, crafting adverts, reaching top talent, to guiding hiring decisions.
1. Job Scoping & Market Insight
We analyse the role, map market availability, and advise on salary ranges and powerhouses offering similar roles.
2. Advert Creation
We help you write a clear, engaging, and compliant job advert—focusing on key traits and representation.
3. Multi‑Channel Posting
We post on specialised job boards, leverage our legal network, and amplify via social media and ad campaigns.
4. Candidate Guidance & Screening
We pre‑screen applicants, evaluate real-world legal capability, and present 3–5 top-quality candidates within 7–14 days.
5. Interview & Offer Support
We coordinate interviews, arrange meetings, and offer negotiation guidance. We step in to facilitate offers and acceptance support.
Case Study: Senior Employment Solicitor Role
We collaborated with a mid‑sized law firm to advertise a Senior Employment Solicitor role in London.
We researched competitor salaries and advertised at £75–90k with a 20% bonus potential.
We staged a live Q&A session that attracted 50 candidates and resulted in nine applications.
We shortlisted three outstanding candidates within 10 days.
Our client interviewed and offered within three weeks.
The candidate accepted within days and started within six weeks—without extra costs from job board boost.
Final Takeaways: Advertise a Law Job Successfully
Here are your key steps to recruiting legal talent:
Clarify role, responsibilities, and candidate profile
Choose platforms suited to your audience
Write a compelling, human-centred advert
Promote across channels and networks
Screen consistently with objective criteria
Measure recruitment performance and refine your strategy
Partner with The Legists to access expertise and top-tier talent
With strong planning and clear recruitment goals, you’ll advertise law jobs confidently and attract qualified and motivated legal professionals.
