Home and away

Not every Australian who comes to London ends up working behind a bar. Felicity Clarke looks at the increasing number of well-trained Australian lawyers who, lured by the bright lights and big bucks, are choosing to further their experience with a European law firm

Like the legendary Anzac’s, Australian lawyers’ tour of duty of London law firms sees young, well-trained recruits leaving their sunny shores for the big smoke and a piece of the big action. Most return home, some do not, but nearly all make their mark on the international scene.
According to Australian recruitment agency Mahlab, more lawyers than ever before moved overseas in the last financial year, with London the most popular destination. Andrea Warnecke of Warnecke Consulting estimates that the Australian market loses between 200 and 400 lawyers each year.
“This results in a huge drain on the skills base of Australian law firms and they are left short and very annoyed,” she says. “This is not a new thing – they have been losing lawyers to the UK for years – but the numbers are bigger now because it is an established route.”
And there is not a lot the Australian firms can do about the lure of London – the money is better, the deals are bigger and the city lights are brighter. The Australian legal market is comparatively limited and the international experience a young lawyer gets in London is invaluable to his or her career development.
“Because the Australian market is comparatively small, the big deals tend to be kept by the partners so the associates and lawyers have a secondary role,” says Anita Simmonds, also of Warnecke. “The UK firms offer bigger money, but more than that they offer the opportunity to do international work and be in the centre of it all.”
Australian firms have had to adapt to the vacuum that results from the exodus of lawyers at the two to five- year post qualified level.
“There is a new level of maturity,” says Warnecke. “The firms accept that the smartest lawyers are not content to stay in the backwaters and so they are now recruiting and training more lawyers knowing that they will not keep them all.”
Australian lawyers are marketable commodities. They have four or five-year degrees behind them (there is no equivalent of the common professional examination in Australia) and the quality of training at the national firms is widely accepted to be very hands-on, with extensive supervision and a good mentoring system.
“Australian lawyers can go anywhere because they are well-trained and are renowned for getting the job done,” says Bryn Bowden of Garfield Robbins. “And now we are seeing an increasing number finding places in Continental Europe, especially Germany and eastern European countries, which shows that their skills set applies to all jurisdictions.”
Andrew Roberts of Square Mile Legal says UK law firms also like to take on Australian lawyers because they provide manpower without necessarily clogging up the partnership route. “Australian lawyers make up the numbers but many do not stick around to become partners,” he says. And this is when the firms recoup the benefits of the initial loss.
“When lawyers return to Australia they have world-class experience and the firms are far richer for it,” says Warnecke. Simmonds agrees: “After a stint in the UK, Australian lawyers have jumped up the ladder and usually make partner quite quickly. In that way, the Australian firms end up benefiting.” The referral network that results from a stint in London also benefits Australian firms and this network is being milked for all it is worth.
“In any of the magic circle firms there is the equivalent of a corridor of Blakes’ lawyers, or Freehills’ lawyers. Australian firms are marshalling the loyalty of these lawyers and, in turn, are forging a relationship with the top tier UK firms,” Warnecke says.
Similarly, the magic circle firms are beginning to encourage their junior lawyers to go on their own tour of duty down under.
“It is becoming increasingly desirable for UK lawyers to work in Australia,” Warnecke says. “UK firms would prefer their junior lawyers to work down under for Mallesons or Clayton Utz than stay in London and go to a magic circle rival.”
Although the route from north to south is not as well trodden, Bowden says that Australia is still a key overseas market and one that is only going to grow.