What Would I Be Doing There
What type of lawyers are in demand
Australia
Due to the smaller size of the market, lawyers practising in Australia tend to receive a greater variety of exposure across different areas. For example, it is not uncommon to find a finance lawyer with experience in general banking, asset finance, structured finance, securitisation, project finance and debt capital markets. This gives rise to lawyers who are generally perceived as being more well-rounded, adaptable and versatile - qualities which Australian law firms tend to seek in their recruits.
Due to a tightening up of immigration requirements, Australian law firms prefer to hire either from the local market or Australian returnees however historically where there has been a shortage of local talent, they have taken on overseas qualified lawyers, particularly from the UK, in the following areas:
- All areas of transactional banking and finance
- Corporate
- Capital Markets – debt and equity
- Infrastructure Projects
- Construction - mainly front end
- Private Equity
- Investment Funds
- Insolvency/Restructuring
- Superannuation/Pensions
New Zealand
The New Zealand legal market is even smaller than the Australian market therefore their lawyers are known as being much more generalist in their expertise and skills set.
The larger New Zealand firms have welcomed overseas qualified lawyers into their ranks, again mainly from the UK, in the areas of corporate, finance and projects.
