US Legal Sector Employment Hits Record High Again in June

US legal sector employment continued to grow in June, reaching a record high for the third consecutive month, according to figures released on Thursday by the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The US legal sector added 5,100 jobs in June, taking total employment — including lawyers, paralegals, judges and legal assistants — to 1,243,500, up from 1,238,400 in May, preliminary data showed. That represents a 0.41 per cent monthly increase and an 8.4 per cent rise compared with five years ago, providing further evidence that artificial intelligence has yet to reduce staffing levels across the legal profession.

“We're not there yet,” said Justine Donahue, a partner at legal recruiting firm Macrae, referring to AI-related job cuts in the legal sector. Instead, she said, law firms are racing to capitalise on AI-related work and need more professionals to support those matters.

The increase in legal employment came as overall US job growth slowed more than expected in June and payroll gains for the previous two months were revised downwards. Some economists attributed the weaker labour market to a delayed economic impact of the Middle East conflict. Non-farm payrolls increased by 57,000 in June, following a downwardly revised gain of 129,000 in May.

The unemployment rate fell to 4.2 per cent last month after about 720,000 people left the labour force, pushing the labour force participation rate to its lowest level in more than five years, according to the Labour Department report.

The legal employment market has remained resilient over the past 12 months, with March being the only month to record a decline in jobs during that period. Overall legal employment has risen by 1.9 per cent over the past year, the Labour Department data showed.

Recent legal industry reports have found that strong demand and higher billing rates have boosted law firm profits. A wave of major initial public offerings (IPOs) and a steady flow of corporate deals have also kept transactional law firms busy, Donahue said.

“Deals are up and money is flowing,” she said. “Litigation is as high as it’s been — particularly complex civil litigation — which drives demand across the board, from junior and senior lawyers to vendors and legal support staff.”


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