Giving it our best Mystic Meg impression, here’s what SolicitR’s crystal ball says for 2010.

This year will hopefully be a little more positive in the world of law than 2009. With any luck, the falling revenues and mass redundancies of last year will be replaced by a gradual pick-up in legal business and some returning stability. The face-time threat level could be notched back from ‘critical’ to ’severe’…just.

But even if that’s the case, we don’t expect a massive surge in recruitment. Sounding out those in the know gives us the impression that only select areas such as restructuring and insolvency are showing signs of hiring life and, looking ahead, confidence remains shaky at best. Sitting tight ’till at least May seems sensible.

We do expect growth in one particular area, one not popular at the bottom end but popular with clients. Outsourcing looks to be big in 2010 particualrly for larger firms still under pressure from clients to cut costs. So if countless applications and covering letters have got day-time TV addicted former associates precisely nowhere, perhaps some entrepreneurial spirit and a one-way ticket to India could be the answer (if your LPO attempt fails, fear not, India is a very cheap place to travel around until the UK economy recovers, more cultured than GMTV too)

Added to that bottom-end pessimism, school leavers and law students are unlikely to find the uber-competitive training contract environment improving. Despite the impending rise in university and law school costs for lawyer wannabees, the numbers pursuing a legal career are set to grow. Law firms are excellent at advertising the benefits of a legal career and political pressure to encourage even more applicants from an ever-wider base is increasing. Will anyone be brave enough to dispel the myth that our entire workforce can be lawyers?

And finally, the big disclaimer. Our proviso for any predictions this year (other than our lack of Tarot cards) is the general election. We wait with baited breath.