Practicing Law in Australia

[Sancho]

I am an Ireland-qualified solicitor and New York-qualified attorney with law degrees from England, Ireland and the US and about 3 years post-qualification experience (in total) from Ireland and New York- capital markets, commercial contracts and some EU and US competition law. I am now considering moving to Australia. I am 28 so I intend getting the one-year working visa and then, once I am in AU, attempt to get my foot in the door somewhere. I would be looking for corporate/commercial work.

I'd be really grateful if someone could answer some or all of the following questions. Thank you in advance.

Generally, how is the legal market in AU? I.e. Is there a severe oversupply/undersupply of lawyers in AU generally or any particular region?

Which cities are most welcoming of foreign lawyers? I.e. Is any region/city a hub for international business and/or international transactions? Do any of the larger firms tend to hire foreign qualified lawyers?

Which regions, if any, have the most accommodating reciprocity agreements with (i) New York, and (ii) Ireland? I.e. do they offer a way to qualify in that region without insisting on particularly onerous, longwinded exams and/or apprenticeship?

Thanks,

[kaz101]

Hi Sancho,

If you haven't already done so please try doing a search on the forum since I think that questions like these have come up before.

Regards,
Karen

[Weebie]

Originally Posted by Sancho

I am an Ireland-qualified solicitor and New York-qualified attorney with law degrees from England, Ireland and the US and about 3 years post-qualification experience (in total) from Ireland and New York- capital markets, commercial contracts and some EU and US competition law. I am now considering moving to Australia. I am 28 so I intend getting the one-year working visa and then, once I am in AU, attempt to get my foot in the door somewhere. I would be looking for corporate/commercial work.

I'd be really grateful if someone could answer some or all of the following questions. Thank you in advance.

Generally, how is the legal market in AU? I.e. Is there a severe oversupply/undersupply of lawyers in AU generally or any particular region?

Which cities are most welcoming of foreign lawyers? I.e. Is any region/city a hub for international business and/or international transactions? Do any of the larger firms tend to hire foreign qualified lawyers?

Which regions, if any, have the most accommodating reciprocity agreements with (i) New York, and (ii) Ireland? I.e. do they offer a way to qualify in that region without insisting on particularly onerous, longwinded exams and/or apprenticeship?

Thanks,

The Australian legal market is like the USA very saturated and doesn't need imports at the moment to fill gaps which don't exist. You're also going to haev to re-qualify but it's fairly straight forward if you have a USA and Irish LLB but a coupel units will need to be done. Some universities do have these switch over programs I know UWA in Perth has one.

If you have a job I wouldn't bother coming out here to be honest this country tradionally isn't big on foreign lawyers and the government is under pressure not to sponsor any but no harm in trying and having experience liek yours will help.