For Australian and New Zealand lawyers looking to move to the UK
Getting a job
The benefits of spending time at one of London's leading law firms speak for themselves – access to top quality clients, international cutting-edge work and a blue-chip name on the resume all add up to a seriously prospects-enhancing career move. And the pay isn't bad either.
Australian and New Zealand lawyers are very popular amongst London law firms for the quality of their training and work ethic. Further, you usually eventually go home, and therefore do not clog up partnership routes for the UK’s indigenous lawyers. The recruitment market may be roaring, but getting a berth at one of London's leading firms is still a challenging process. Much will depend on your practice area, academic achievement and the reputation of your firm at home. The ‘magic circle’ and the London offices of top US firms decidedly prefer to recruit from the top tiers in both Australia and New Zealand.
Ideal candidates are those with between 2 and 6 years' experience with a top tier firm in Australia or New Zealand and lawyers with a background in M&A, corporate, non-contentious IP, insurance or financial services, will find themselves very much in demand, according to Marissa Barton at recruitment consultants, Graham Gill. Funds experience is strongly in demand as are finance disciplines – especially asset, project, structured and acquisition – and insolvency while demand is fairly steady for property lawyers.
The commercial litigation market is at a relatively low ebb, however, and non-commercial disciplines are pretty well catered for by UK-qualified lawyers. In the current recruitment market, mid-tier and smaller firms will also recruit antipodean lawyers, although they may well require some convincing that you will be able to get up to speed pretty quickly and with the minimum of training. Those with less than 2 years experience may find it difficult to get a permanent job as a solicitor, but will find it easier to find work as a paralegal.
The decision whether to try and find a position before arriving in the UK, or (as the majority do) just turning up in London and trying your luck, will depend on whether you need sponsorship to get a visa (see visa section below) and the level of law firm you are applying to. Even if you miss one of the big firms' roadshows, the larger firms are often happy to interview by tele-conference and may pay towards relocation expenses. Smaller firms, however, will want to meet you face-to-face. In either case, it is advisable to start planning and contacting firms some months before you intend to make the move. A great place to start, of course, is by searching the vast array of jobs on our UK website – search according to practice area and geographical location, whether you’re looking for a position in private practice, in-house or with the public sector. You’ll be able to apply directly to positions advertised by firms (from magic circle to small/boutique), companies and leading recruitment agencies.
Requalification through the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test (QLTT) is not a prerequisite to getting a job, but does make you more marketable and many law firms will encourage you to take it while you're working in the UK. Australian and New Zealand lawyers need only take one of the subjects contained in the QLTT, on professional conduct and accounts.
Finally, don't forget the regions. Over the past decade, many of the larger firms from Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester as well as a number of Scottish practices have moved in on the commercial work traditionally handled by middle-tier firms in the capital and some of these, such as DLA Piper Rudnick, have become serious contenders in the City of London as well. For our complete guides to the UK's leading provincial centres, click here.
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