Legal recruiters have been inundated by approaches from conveyancing practitioners looking for work as the credit crunch takes its toll on the housing market.

The decline in the property market has led to job losses for lawyers and support staff across the country. Volume conveyancers Barnetts and Dickinson Dees are consulting on potential redundancies, while national firm Shoosmiths has seen 23 voluntary redundancies in its Northampton residential conveyancing team.

Susan Kent, consultant at specialist legal recruiter feeearners, said: ‘We’re seeing both newly qualified and highly experienced residential property solicitors who’ve been made redundant. And we’re up to our eyeballs in legal secretaries.’

Oliver Gibbon, director at recruiters Hays Legal, said his experience was the same and that the ‘froth’ had also gone out of the commercial property market.

Indicating the scale of the problem Mike Walker, senior manager at recruiters Taylor Root, said: ‘We used to see about one candidate a week, but we’re now seeing one or two a day and finding it difficult to place them.

‘It’s very hard, but if lawyers can be flexible and look to other skill sets such as property litigation or wills and probate, they may be able to get work in those areas.’

Richard Barnett, chairman of the Law Society’s land law and conveyancing committee and a senior partner at Barnetts, urged firms to keep an open mind and look to other services they could offer clients.

‘We’re good at what we do and can process work. When one door slams in your face you’ve got to look to other doors to open,’ he said.

Frank Maher, partner at Liverpool-based law firm Legal Risk warned firms to be careful about who they let go.

‘When it comes to renewing insurance, insurers will be enquiring more closely into practices. Firms need to ensure they retain staff who can answer the detailed questions asked,’ he said.