20 per cent of associates would refuse retraining

Twenty ;per ;cent ;of ­associates would rather take redundancy than retrain to another ;practice ;area, according to the latest YouGovCentaur survey.

The survey of almost 2,000 lawyers’ attitudes to the economic climate reveals a profession living in fear – although some are more nonchalant than others.

Legal recruitment consultancy First Counsel senior consultant Mark Brandon said: “People are still ­labouring under the delusion that they could walk into another job, and it’s just not the case. Associate recruitment is so flat.”

For most lawyers, retraining ;or ;relocation ;are ­attractive alternatives to redundancy, but a sizeable minority would reject both options, ;with ;around
a ­quarter of associates ­prefering to be out of a job.