FORECAST FOR IP ATTORNEY HIRING LOOKS SUNNY: A new survey indicates that law firms and corporate legal departments are optimistic about adding staff in the coming year. Fifty-three percent of attorneys surveyed said they would be increasing staff in the next 12 months. Specifically, practice areas such as intellectual property, corporate law, real estate and litigation were forecast as experiencing the most consistent growth.

The survey was developed by Robert Half Legal, a staffing service specializing in attorneys, paralegals and other highly skilled legal professionals. It was conducted by an independent research firm and includes responses from 200 attorneys among the 1,000 largest law firms and corporations in both the United States and Canada.

Attorneys were asked, "Do you expect the number of attorneys employed with your firm or corporate legal department to increase, stay the same or decrease in the next 12 months?"

Their responses:

Increase 55%
Stay the same 41%
Decrease 3%
Don't know 1%