There is a large demand for lawyers in Australia, many firms are willing to pay:
- Relocation bonuses.
- Sign on bonuses.
- Highly attractive salaries.
- Visa management and financial support for both their employee and their family.
If you want to know more about what salary level you can expect in Australia head to our Salary Guide.
There are certain areas of Law that travel better to Australia than others, this is due to a number of factors including:
- The size and scope of a firm’s client base.
- Whether a firm’s clients operate in multiple jurisdictions and require expertise.
- How large and complex particular projects or transactions might be.
- The firm’s experience in introducing internationally qualified lawyers to their teams.
- Processes and structures to introduce internationally qualified lawyers to their teams within a firm.
- The firm’s staffing capability to give the time and attention to “bed-in” internationally qualified lawyers.
- The similarity between the different sector’s Acts and Statutes from country to country.
- General demand for Lawyers in a particular sector.
The top jobs in law in demand in Australia include Banking and Finance, Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions, Commercial Advisory, Construction – Front and Back End, Real Estate (Property), Commercial DR & Litigation (Non Court), TMT, IP, Insurance, Public, Health.
Top Firms in a narrower field of expertise can be found at The Legal 500.
Employment Law and Tax are of interest although opportunities are fewer. This is due to some firms counting the disparity between legislation from country to country so apparent that they chose to secure local lawyers rather than those from overseas.
Family – Extremely difficult to move skills across
Criminal/Court – Extremely difficult to move skills across
General Practitioners – For those GP Lawyers that have a good range of skills outside of Family there is a good range of roles. Especially as long as there is a relatively short notice period to the commencement of employment. This is due to these firms having smaller teams, and needing to balance workload and plan their staffing accordingly.
Points to note regarding jobs in law:
Large firms are still interested in reviewing University transcripts. Particularly for those who have qualified as a lawyer with less than 5 years of experience.
Firms do look for large transaction, large file or large client management experience.
All need good communication skills.
All want to know the reason for the move to Australia.
Firms are comfortable with protracted start dates as long as contracts are signed.
Please get in touch with Lisa Gray at lgray@tylerwren.co.nz to discuss Law jobs based in Australia.