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.
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.
