What are the chances of getting a job?
Graduates struggle to find solicitor work
New graduates find it difficult to secure solicitor work, and may seek jobs in other areas of law such as policy development.
Your best chances of finding work as a solicitor are in the main cities of Auckland and Wellington.
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Moderate demand for experienced solicitors
Chances of getting work as a solicitor are better if you have at least two years of experience.
Demand for experienced solicitors has increased in commercial and insurance law due to high levels of construction, corporate investment, and a strong property market. Between 2011 and 2017 the number of solicitors grew by 11.8% to over 11,000.
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According to the Census, 11,865 solicitors worked in New Zealand in 2018.
Artificial intelligence may impact solicitor jobs
Artificial intelligence software has been created that can find evidence for cases, prepare contracts, identify fraud, research, and make legal decisions. These tasks are usually a large part of what solicitors do. In the short term, technology may help solicitors with their work but in the long term it may replace the paperwork solicitors do. This could lead to job losses.
Types of employers varied
Solicitors may work for:
- general legal firms
- government departments and community agencies
- boutique law firms, which specialise in a particular area of law
- real estate agencies
- companies.
Sources
- Adlam, G, ‘Robots Could Replace Lawyers, claims Massey Researcher’, 23 June 2016, (www.lawsociety.org.nz).
- Adlam, G, ‘Similarities Between New Zealand and Australian Solicitor Demographics’, 20 July 2017, (www.lawsociety.org.nz).
- Bolza, M, ‘Robots Replacing Lawyers a Near Certainty’, 22 February 2016, (www.nzlawyermagazine.co.nz).
- The Law Foundation, ‘Research Reveals Changes are Needed to Retain Young Lawyers in this Profession’, June 2016, (www.lawfoundation.org.nz).
- New Zealand Law Society, ‘Artificial Intelligence and the Law’, 20 January 2017, (www.lawsociety.org.nz).
- New Zealand Law Society, ‘Snapshot of the Profession 2016’, 4 May 2016, (www.lawsociety.org.nz).
- Robert Walters, ‘Global Salary Survey’, 2017, (www.robertwalters.co.nz).
- Stats NZ, ‘2018 Census Data’, 2019.
(This information is a guide only. Find out more about the sources of our job opportunities information)
Progression and specialisations
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Solicitors may progress to set up their own practice or they may become an associate or a partner of the firm they work for.
Solicitors may specialise in:
- competitions and corporate law
- criminal law
- environment and resource management
- human rights
- intellectual property
- public law
- property
- tax
- Treaty of Waitangi.
Solicitors may also specialise as a:
Patent AttorneyPatent attorneys advise on intellectual property and setting up patents, and help prosecute people who copy someone’s patented work.
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