The current market for legal and regulatory personnel in the private funds space is incredibly unique. Although demand for legal and compliance personnel is high, there is a significant disconnect between managers looking to hire lawyers and those attorneys interested in taking in-house legal and compliance positions. Both sides are suffering from serious misconceptions, as managers are certain they are in a buyer’s market, while the law firm associates and other lawyers believe they are in a seller’s market. In a recent interview with the Hedge Fund Law Report, David Claypoole, founder and president of Claypoole Executive Search, addressed those and other themes relating to the market for in-house legal and compliance staff. This first article in a two-part series sets forth Claypoole’s detailed insights on legal and compliance hiring trends, as well as ways in-house compensation is being structured. The second article will explore the rates of compensation for in-house personnel and trends with respect to legal and compliance staff at digital asset managers. For additional commentary from Claypoole, see our two-part interview “Is Your Legal and Compliance Team Ready?”: How Recent Developments Will Drive Demand for In-House Staff and Increase Regulatory Scrutiny (Jan. 28, 2021); and The Effect of Industry Trends on the Legal and Compliance Market and Compensation (Feb. 4, 2021); as well as our two-part series: “How Have Industry Developments Affected the Value of Legal and Compliance Staff?” (Feb. 2, 2017); and “Will Industry Deregulation Affect the Value of Legal and Compliance Staff?” (Feb. 16, 2017).