Charlotte Lewis, an NZLS AYL Committee Member, recently interviewed Sonders Director, Head of Australia – Matthew Hart to reflect on the last year, discuss how overseas legal markets have coped and assess his predictions from their last interview, London… on hold?
Matthew reveals top tips for New Zealand qualified lawyers who want to move overseas and lays out what opportunities they may have in the coming months/year.
Read what they discussed below, or catch up on the full article from Charlotte here.
Charlotte: Are the United Kingdom, Australian and United States markets doing worse or better than predicted?
Matthew: All three markets have bounced back – I would say they are as active as we thought they would be. The UK and Australia both picked up in Q4 2020, with small and large firms recruiting across most practice areas in the major cities. Kiwis can travel and work in Australia without any trouble at all. Top tier and mid-tier Australian law firms are recruiting Kiwis across all practice areas.
We have seen momentum build as the COVID restrictions in the UK have eased. As I said last year, if you are eligible for the Tier 5 Youth Mobility Visa, this is a big plus, but don’t despair if you don’t qualify, as there are still plenty of firms in the market that can and will sponsor lawyers through the Tier 2 visa. If you are between 3-8 years PQE and have “Big Law Firm” experience, you will have opportunities in London.
The US was slightly slower to pick up, but it has been very active from Q1 2021, with the market for finance and corporate lawyers especially hot. Some firms are hiring more staff to make up for last year’s hiring freezes, but a spike in lateral recruitment in Q1 is also consistent with traditional US hiring patterns. These trends have been pretty consistent with what we predicted. While it isn’t easy for Kiwi lawyers to secure working visas in the US, there is a strong appetite for Canadian and Australian qualified lawyers who can easily secure visas. Two of the best routes for Kiwi lawyers (unless you have a US passport) are through internal transfers (i.e., from a US firm’s Hong Kong office to the same US firm’s New York City office) or through intakes following completion of a Masters programme at a well respected law school, such as Harvard or Columbia.
Charlotte: Have the same areas that you predicted would fare well been the ones that have had increased opportunities?
Matthew: Yes and no. When we spoke this time last year, I had predicted that restructuring and insolvency (R&I) practices would continue to be extremely busy in every market. However, demand for R&I lawyers has been up and down. For instance, the R&I teams in New York were flat out for the majority of 2020 and into early 2021, but a lot of those teams have been relatively quiet the last few months.
In Australia, as we predicted, litigation groups, particularly commercial, regulatory and construction disputes groups, continue to be busy.
We were expecting to see mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and capital markets teams pick up, and we have seen that with strong demand for these lawyers across the UK, US and Australia. Capital markets groups are particularly active across the US firms.
We also expected to see an increase in demand for private equity (PE) lawyers with PE groups going after distressed assets. Globally, we have seen a good amount of activity in the PE sector. Hiring across this space has been particularly hot in the US and in US firms’ London offices.
Finance teams, particularly leveraged / acquisition and corporate finance groups have been very active across all markets, including the UK, US and Australia.
Charlotte: How are the disputes and corporate markets looking in the UK, Australia and the US?
Matthew: Disputes is extremely active in Australia, and there is strong demand for litigators across all cities. Commercial disputes teams in Australia are busy with class actions and regulatory work. Insurance disputes teams are all very active across various areas, including cyber and financial lines. Top-tier, mid-tier and specialist firms are all interested in Kiwi litigators.
Corporate groups are also very busy in Australia. There is strong demand for mid-level and senior- level Kiwis with solid corporate M&A, PE and / or capital markets experience. Sydney and Melbourne are driving the bulk of demand, but there are great opportunities across Brisbane, Perth and Canberra.
While there is demand for litigators in the UK, the Magic Circle, Silver Circle and US firms have had a strong preference for locally trained and locally based lawyers, and there has been an increase in supply of those lawyers because of COVID. Because of this, it has been very competitive for foreign qualified lawyers – the level of competition is greater than what we saw pre-COVID. However, this will not last, so we encourage Australian and Kiwi litigators to remain patient with their London search.
The corporate market is hot in the UK. We’re seeing strong demand across M&A, PE, capital markets, and funds. This is across all types of firms – large and small. Most of these groups are open to Australian and Kiwi lawyers with strong academics and solid deal experience.
In the US, as is usually the case, the corporate groups are far more active than the disputes teams in terms of hiring laterals, and they are most active at the junior to mid-levels. New York, as always, is driving a lot of the hiring, but other markets, such as San Francisco and LA, are also very active. The competition for lateral hires is driving up salaries, bonuses and overall packages.
Charlotte: How has the way lawyers “work” in Australia changed?
Matthew: Putting aside mini lockdowns, Australian lawyers are generally back in the office at least a couple of times a week. Some firms have adopted a 60 / 40 approach – 3 days in the office, 2 days at home – whilst others have taken a more flexible approach. For the most part, there has been a shift away from the attitude that staff are expected to be working from the office every day. However, most firms still see the value and importance of in-person interaction, particularly when building team and firm culture. A loss of ‘company identity’ is something that senior members of firms are concerned with and firms are working hard to find the right balance.
Working from home doesn’t come without its drawbacks. While a lot of lawyers feel they are more productive without having to commute, many lawyers have found that the lack of separation between the home office and their home results in working around the clock. With this, burnout is a continuing issue. In some cases, overworking is the result of real or perceived expectations that particular firms or teams hold regarding hours, and in others, it can be the result of a lack of physical separation between the work and home environments.
While there have been benefits associated with new ways of working, it hasn’t all been positive. From what we have seen, whether teams stay connected and engaged is largely down to the time senior leaders want to put into ensuring they are fostering a positive and inclusive team culture.
Charlotte: Any comments on a lateral move to another New Zealand firm before moving to an overseas legal market?
Matthew: When it comes to lateral moves, young lawyers should consider their primary objective for the move to another New Zealand firm and their ideal overseas move date. If there is an opportunity to move into the “number 1” team in the area you work in and you are planning to stay for 18 months plus in that role, then it could be a wise move. If the role is with an equivalent firm or team and you want to move overseas within a year, unless there are push factors, on the face of it, it is not something we would recommend. While there is no right or wrong answer and a number of factors play into any decision, it is important to remember that an overseas firm will want to understand more about your journey to date, and may be concerned if you have multiple sideways moves on your CV.
Interested in making the move overseas? If you’re a New Zealand lawyer and want to broaden your horizens in 2021, get in touch with Matthew Hart today to discuss your options: info@sonderconsultants.com
“The best way to predict the future is to create it”
– A Lincoln
