Advice, insights and information about risk and compliance hiring, careers and job hunting

Benchmarking solely by job title or post-qualification experience (PQE) is a fast track to salary errors and failed searches. Discover how to accurately price compliance roles based on operational scope, technical complexity, and market scarcity—and learn how to adjust your hiring strategy if your firm's budget falls below current market rates.

Your job description is the very first market signal passive candidates receive—and if it looks confused, they will assume the role is a mess. Discover how to eliminate generic compliance filler, clearly separate daily operational tasks from high-level advisory work, and project the organizational credibility needed to land top-tier risk talent.

Risk and compliance responsibilities look entirely different from one law firm to the next. Learn how detailing your internal reporting lines, budget authority, and immediate team support structures within the initial hiring brief builds trust with the market and prevents top candidates from dropping out.

Law firms operate in a high-stakes environment where a single oversight by a fee earner can lead to multi-million pound negligence claims. Managing these exposures requires specialized internal legal counsel. A Professional Indemnity Lawyer (often designated as an Internal Claims Handling Lawyer or Risk & Claims Counsel) works within the firm's general counsel or risk function to handle negligence allegations, mitigate liabilities, and manage relations with professional indemnity insurers.

A Client Terms Lawyer (often called an Outside Counsel Guidelines Lawyer or Engagement Terms Counsel) is the dedicated internal specialist who reviews, negotiates, and manages these complex commercial agreements.

Within the legal risk and compliance sector, some roles require more than operational policy management, they demand formal legal representation and advocacy. A Financial Crime Lawyer (frequently referred to as a Risk Lawyer or Internal Regulatory Counsel) acts as the firm’s dedicated internal legal specialist, defending the business against financial crime risks, sanctions liabilities, and regulatory investigations.