b'6 Local Government LawyerTable 5: Of your lawyers at the following career levels, which do you expect to increase or decrease in numbers in the foreseeable future?Legal Officers/Paralegals/Legal Assistants 44% 36% 6%6% 6%Other qualified solicitors/barristers/ 3% 29% 51% 10% 5%fully qualified legal executives 3%Senior solicitors/barristers 19% 62% 10% 7%3%Part-qualified Legal Executives 4% 19% 43% 6% 12% 16%Locum solicitors/barristers 3% 14% 24% 18% 21% 14%6% Locum legal Officers/Paralegals/Legal Assistants 7% 24% 9% 21% 9% 27%3% 3%Team managers/principal solicitors/barristers 5% 74% 15%1% 1%Increase significantly Increase moderately Stay more or less the same Decrease moderatelyDecrease significantly Hard to tell Not applicableon more in-house staff or upskill existingTable 6: In the foreseeable future, do you expect the number of legal shared service employees.departments to.Reflecting this, the survey showed that many departments are set on expanding through permanent recruitmentthe rate ofIncrease significantly 10%respondents mentioning it as a solution up 8% from 50% in 2019 to 58% in 2024.But while departments are unsurprisingly focused on expanding their legal teams,Increase moderately 29%they are not expanding in the way one might expect. Our value is acknowledgedStay round the same 54%and therefore we have not been asked to lose staff, but theDecrease moderately 4%financial position is so dire were unlikely to get more Decrease significantly 1%In response to the difficulty in keeping qualified lawyers58% of respondents said it was quite difficult to retain good lawyers another head of legal added that the benefitOne said: Our value is acknowledged and departments are now looking to hire furtherof paralegals is that they can take on boardtherefore we have not been asked to lose down the ladder (See table 4). lower-level legal work to allow the teamsstaff, but the financial position is so dire were Legal officer, paralegal, and legal assistantsolicitors to concentrate on more complexunlikely to get more unless they are income positions are set to rise the most, with 44% ofwork. generating.respondents predicting a moderate increase. Another respondent described this set- While departments continue to use private By contrast, 29% of respondents expectup as pushing work down to paralegals,practice law firms to take the load off at the number of qualified solicitors, barristersallowing qualified solicitors to take on anaround the same rate now as in 2019, the and fully qualified legal executives to riseoverview position.rate at which they are seeking advice from moderately (See table 5). This shift is a response to the difficulty inbarristers has quadrupled. Explaining the circumstances at their localhiring fully qualified legal professionals, butMore than a third of respondents (35%) authority, one commenter said it was simplyit is also a function of budget woes, as manyreported using the bar more often to help easier to recruit to more junior roles, whilecommenters were quick to mention. cope, up from just 8% in 2019.'