A new staffing industry report shows that temporary legal staffing is the most consistently fast-growing segment of the contingent workforce in the United States, largely driven by merger and acquisition activity and litigation-related work.
In fact, Staffing Industry Analysts says its survey suggests that temporary legal staffing is expected to increase substantially faster than temporary help as a whole over the next decade.
The demand will grow annually by 6% for paralegals and legal assistants, 5% for lawyers, and 4.6% for legal secretaries. Lawyers, paralegals, and legal secretaries make up roughly 85% of the temporary legal workforce. Of these, the fastest-growing occupation is paralegals, according to the survey results.
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The survey also found that temporary legal staffing remains concentrated in metropolitan areas, with one in six legal jobs in either New York City (10.4%) or Washington, D.C. (5.7%).
Staffing Industry Analysts says six staffing companies account for 35% of the $1.5 billion market for temporary legal help: MPS Group; Update Legal; Hudson Highland Group, Inc.; Adecco SA; Spherion Corp.; and Robert Half International.
