Where can you see yourself next?

21 Sep

Posted at 23:46h in Uncategorized by

Moving halfway around the world can be daunting at the best of times, but it’s twice as hard when you don’t have familiar home comforts to fall back on. Hopefully the following short guide can act as a cheat sheet for the homesick Aussie, and will encourage you to stick it out as we head into the grim winter months! Snacks Depending on how long you’ve been in the UK, you may already be on board with consuming an obscene number of cups of tea on any given day. Back home, you would probably turn to a Tim Tam as an ideal...

26 Aug

Posted at 02:15h in Uncategorized by

For overseas-based lawyers who are considering a move to the UK at some point in the future, this has been a testing time. There has certainly been an unprecedented use of the word ‘unprecedented’ – but often without any real context. I have had the opportunity to chat with Dr Christopher McCorkindale, Senior Lecturer in Public Law at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, to get his view on some of the larger pressures on the UK's legal systems (and as a result, legal market) we have seen in the last 12 months. For the last few years (at least until COVID took centre...

21 Jul

Posted at 04:17h in Uncategorized by

State of play It has been a funny old time for the UK legal market in 2020. With many firms taking an ultra-cautious approach to lateral recruitment in Q1 due to Brexit uncertainty, the advent of COVID (and the truncated lockdown that has followed) has unfortunately resulted in the usual recruitment merry-go-round grinding to a halt. Slowdown in effect Understandably, firms are reticent to hire lawyers en masse, and are instead adopting a need-driven style of recruitment; roles are only coming on to the market due to urgent replacement requirements where lawyers have been lost from a team’s existing talent pool. International arrivals have similarly...

03 May

Posted at 23:44h in Uncategorized by

Many solicitors have a medium-long term plan to experience living and working overseas at some point in their career. The process can often seem daunting, but the following tips may help you take the next step: Career Audit Due to the relatively quiet state of the market, now is a great time to stop and take stock of your current position. It is amazing how many lawyers do not have a clear and succinct answer to the question – “what do you do for a living”? as sadly it is the nature of commercial practice that lawyers seldom have time between matters to self-reflect. ...

27 Aug

Posted at 05:03h in Uncategorized by

As a former Scottish lawyer, now living in Sydney, I thought it would be useful to set out some of the key benefits a UK-qualified solicitor might experience when moving to Australia. Lifestyle Having spent my formative years as a lawyer in rainy Glasgow and brisk Aberdeen, it is fair to say that Australia’s weather represents a significant step-up in quality. While rainy days are possible, they tend to be few and far between, and the ability to plan a beach visit or BBQ more than a day in advance is a real bonus! Sydney’s beaches, Melbourne’s culture, Brisbane’s sunshine, Perth’s rugged beauty...