Hiring in legal departments appears to be on the upswing. A recently released survey of Chief Legal Officers conducted by the Altman Weil legal consultancy and LexisNexis Martindale-Hubble found that nearly 40 percent plan to add additional lawyers within the next 12 months.

That compares to 36 percent who said they would add attorneys in 2006 and 35 percent who planned to hire in 2005.

“The increase in the number of GCs who say they will add staff positions is not huge, but it is the highest in the past three years,” says Daniel J. DiLucchio Jr., principal in Altman Weil. “It's an interesting indicator that things may be loosening up.”

DiLucchio attributes most of the growing interest in hiring to rising outside counsel costs, which make it economically advantageous to add staff positions to handle more work inside.

The positions to be added differ by industry and size of department, DiLucchio says.

“The smaller the department, the more they are looking for generalists–someone with business sense who can juggle a lot of balls and may not have all the answers but knows where to get the answers,” he says. “Larger companies are looking to bring specialty work, such as labor and employment, inside. Still larger companies are looking for financial or tax expertise.”

On average, CLOs responding to the survey added 1.7 positions to their legal departments over the past three years. Attorneys with specific expertise topped the list of new positions added, with paralegal positions close behind.

“Because of cost pressures, GCs are becoming more aware of the cost benefits of using paralegals,” DiLucchio says. “[The annual Altman Weil benchmarking survey] has found a consistent ratio of three paralegals to 10 lawyers for several years, but we think this is one area where a law department should be above the benchmark level.”

The survey also revealed growing concern among GCs about staff retention and the ability to hire legal talent. When asked, “What is your greatest long-term concern?” comments included “Planning for upcoming retirements and having sufficient budget to hire and allow transition” and “Increasing specialization needed by in-house lawyers and the compensation to effectively compete for such talent.”

But DiLucchio says his conversations with GCs and legal search specialists reveal no problems in finding people to fill in-house openings because many lawyers are still seeking to escape the business development pressure and long hours required in law firm jobs.

Hiring in legal departments appears to be on the upswing. A recently released survey of Chief Legal Officers conducted by the Altman Weil legal consultancy and LexisNexis Martindale-Hubble found that nearly 40 percent plan to add additional lawyers within the next 12 months.

That compares to 36 percent who said they would add attorneys in 2006 and 35 percent who planned to hire in 2005.

“The increase in the number of GCs who say they will add staff positions is not huge, but it is the highest in the past three years,” says Daniel J. DiLucchio Jr., principal in Altman Weil. “It's an interesting indicator that things may be loosening up.”

DiLucchio attributes most of the growing interest in hiring to rising outside counsel costs, which make it economically advantageous to add staff positions to handle more work inside.

The positions to be added differ by industry and size of department, DiLucchio says.

“The smaller the department, the more they are looking for generalists–someone with business sense who can juggle a lot of balls and may not have all the answers but knows where to get the answers,” he says. “Larger companies are looking to bring specialty work, such as labor and employment, inside. Still larger companies are looking for financial or tax expertise.”

On average, CLOs responding to the survey added 1.7 positions to their legal departments over the past three years. Attorneys with specific expertise topped the list of new positions added, with paralegal positions close behind.

“Because of cost pressures, GCs are becoming more aware of the cost benefits of using paralegals,” DiLucchio says. “[The annual Altman Weil benchmarking survey] has found a consistent ratio of three paralegals to 10 lawyers for several years, but we think this is one area where a law department should be above the benchmark level.”

The survey also revealed growing concern among GCs about staff retention and the ability to hire legal talent. When asked, “What is your greatest long-term concern?” comments included “Planning for upcoming retirements and having sufficient budget to hire and allow transition” and “Increasing specialization needed by in-house lawyers and the compensation to effectively compete for such talent.”

But DiLucchio says his conversations with GCs and legal search specialists reveal no problems in finding people to fill in-house openings because many lawyers are still seeking to escape the business development pressure and long hours required in law firm jobs.