Lawyers expect steady hiring for the legal field in the first half of 2017, according to a study released by Robert Half Legal. One-quarter of lawyers interviewed, 25%, anticipate their law firms or companies will add legal jobs in the first half of the year, down from 31% six months ago but up slightly from 26% one year ago.

Fifty-nine percent of lawyers said they expect to only fill vacant posts, while 11% said they would neither fill vacant positions nor create new ones. No respondents anticipate staff reductions in the next six months.

“Law firms in particular are recruiting highly skilled experts with backgrounds in commercial litigation, insurance defense and eDiscovery to help them manage rising caseloads and meet client needs,” said Charles Volkert, senior district president of Robert Half Legal. “As a result, legal professionals with five-plus years of litigation experience are in strong demand and many are receiving multiple job offers.”

Litigation is expected to yield the most job opportunities from January through June, cited by 40% of attorneys surveyed. Within the litigation practice area, commercial litigation was identified as the leading driver of job growth, receiving 39% of the survey response.

Other key findings:

• 63% of lawyers said finding skilled legal professionals is somewhat or very challenging, while 38% of survey respondents expressed concern about losing legal personnel to other job opportunities in the next six months.
• 35% of lawyers said that, aside from compensation or bonus, flexible work arrangements provide the greatest incentive for legal professionals to remain with an employer. Challenging work or variety of assignments ranked second, receiving 33% of the survey response, followed by professional development opportunities, at 15%.

The survey is based on 200 telephone interviews with lawyers in the US who have hiring authority within their organizations. It included 100 respondents employed at law firms with 20 or more employees and 100 respondents employed at companies with 1,000 or more employees.