It becomes increasingly more difficult to move in-house from approximately 9 years PAE onwards. If you are applying for an in-house role and you are over 9 years qualified you may find yourself competing against a candidate that has had 5 years in private practice and 4 years in-house experience. Everything else being equal, companies are more likely to favour the candidate with the in-house experience because they have already proven that they can make the transition to an in-house environment. Additionally, beyond the 9 years, companies also question the motives behind your desire to move in-house. They will question why you haven’t made the move in-house earlier, as they are concerned that you may have chosen this option only because your partnership prospects are not positive, rather than because you truly have a desire to move in-house.

The best time in your career to move in-house is generally between 2 and 6 years post admission. Making the move earlier or later is not impossible just potentially more problematic.

If you would like to know more about the in-house market, opportunities currently available and how best to manage your move, contact our In-House Senior Consultant, Andrew Murdoch on +61 2 9266 2909 or at andrew@ea-int.com.

Like the Cayman Islands, Dubai is a tax-free jurisdiction. However unlike the Caymans, salaries in Dubai tend to be more in line with leading UK firms rather than US firms, however with the addition of significant benefits. This slightly lower salary base combined with the weakness of the Sterling (relative to the Australian dollar) means that Dubai may lag behind places like Cayman and New York in terms of nominal remuneration, but very much with Cayman when you factor in added benefits and the cost of living. To give an illustration, a 3-year lawyer at a magic circle firm in Dubai will be on a salary of approximately £85,000-100,000 ($A130,000-150,000) and up to 5 years on closer to £110,000 (A$165,000).

Yet despite this slightly lower average salary base, firms in Dubai have discretionary bonus schemes in place and lawyers typically make somewhere between 15% and 20% in the way of bonuses. Add that often-overlooked fact to the very reasonable cost of living in Dubai (particularly when compared to Cayman, New York and Sydney) and the salary begins to look increasingly attractive. There is even scope for some firms to provide housing allowances and other similar benefits.

On the face of it, Dubai may seem to be slightly off the mark with base salaries – but when zero tax is added to the aforementioned factors, it is clear that this is an extremely lucrative jurisdiction where you can make the most of it financially.

If you are interested in working in a lucrative jurisdiction and would like to know how best to manage your relocation, contact one of our international consultants on +61 2 9266 2900 or email ea@ea-int.com.

Mergers like King & Wood with Mallesons and Ashurst with Blakes appear to be setting the tone for the future of the top tier. Whispers of high-level discussions between Magic and Silver Circle firms and the top-tier have arisen, with Freehills and Herbert Smith recently confirming they are in discussions. Add to that the standalone entrance of major players like Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance and the face of the legal market appears very different to that which many are accustomed to.

It is seemingly inevitable that all of the major international law firms will eventually have offices in Sydney. This will signify an increasingly intense competitive market, with firms like A&O already showing they can compete on the M&A tables after barely two years of operation in the region. In such a market where global equity pools suddenly come into play, expect to see a narrowing of focus – practice groups that bill big (think corporate, banking, finance and litigation) will begin to take precedence over the smaller, complementary groups. This will be compounded further as issues relating to historically high exchange rates begin to kick in.

This means that for lawyers in groups like employment, IP, media, government and insurance, the changing face of the top tier may not provide the opportunity that it does for corporate lawyers and litigators. It stands to reason that groups where clients have great cost restrictions are going to continue to be put under pressure as streamlining occurs. It would seem that the future of these groups is in the mid-tier or boutique space in the medium term, with many of these practice groups already excelling in the area. For those lawyers in such a group, now may be the ideal time to begin to reconsider your position in the market in order to settle your career long term.

If you would like to know more about the Australian local market, current opportunities available and how best to manage your move, contact our local consultant, Shaaron Dalton on +61 2 9266 2906 or at shaaron@ea-int.com.

2012 – Despite the gloomy media predictions, at EA International we expect the in-house market to remain steady in much the same way as the latter part of 2011. In Commerce & Industry the resources boom looks set to continue and accordingly demand for lawyers that support that sector – i.e. infrastructure, construction and energy – should remain strong. In NSW, there will be increased demand for project and infrastructure lawyers,as the state government is expected to announce infrastructure projects that will most likely take the form of PPPs. As more and more organisations seek to lower their labour costs by pushing work overseas (think Qantas), IT outsourcing will continue to grow. The trend of recruiting a sole legal counsel to reduce legal costs will continue in much the same way as 2011. The retail, media and FMCG sectors will remain sluggish as they come to grips with the digital age and cautious consumers. In Banking & Finance, recruitment at the big four banks will remain subdued for the foreseeable future as they once again chase record profits. Funds and insurance should remain steady as these sectors are well-insulated due to compulsory super and necessity of insurance.

Moving forward, the good news is that all the in-house teams are exceptionally busy and would like to add additional lawyers to their teams but are waiting on head office approval. Should “certainty” return to the market in the form of a resolution to the Euro crisis, we would expect in-house recruitment to surge as companies make up for lost time.

If you would like to know more about the in-house market and how best to manage your move, contact our In-House Senior Consultant, Andrew Murdoch on +61 2 9266 2909 or at andrew@ea-int.com.

• Throughout 2011, we’ve helped clients hire the very best in Australian and New Zealand lawyers across more than thirty different jurisdictions. In March, we were fortunate enough to manage the global Linklaters campaign, the largest recruitment campaign of any Magic Circle firm in the Australia/New Zealand region since 2008.

• Indeed, international destinations remain resilient and continue to hire. EA has been the leader for 11 years in assisting Australian and New Zealand lawyers to take their careers overseas and this year has been no exception. We have placed lawyers in New York, Amsterdam, Paris, Milan, Moscow, Brussels, London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai. There remain opportunities across a range of practice areas but many are no longer advertised, making the market difficult to navigate. Speak with our international consultants for a full picture of which opportunities exist in various locations. Hiring remains strategic but the interest in Australian and New Zealand lawyers in particular is very strong and we envisage this to continue into 2012 as the European economic situation becomes more certain.

• 2011 has also seen the expansion of our local service. The addition of our new Senior Consultant Shaaron Dalton in July was welcomed in the face of strong demand in all of Australia’s capital cities, especially Perth, Brisbane and Sydney.

• Locally, the globalization of the legal market continues with Australia remaining a strategic target for international firms looking to set up offices in Sydney and Perth in particular. This year Clifford Chance, Ashurst and US firm Squire Sanders set up their operations through mergers and acquisitions of national and boutique firms in Australia. Next year we will likely see more new entrants and further market consolidation at the top end. These developments mean a range of new and interesting opportunities with global firms for Australian lawyers.

• Salaries in the Australian market have continued to grow with upward pressure coming from the influx of international firms that have opened their doors here. As competition for elite legal talent heats up, firms have had to make adjustments in reaction to the new levels offered by some of the international players. All of this is good news for lawyers throughout Australia’s major cities along with new bonus arrangements incrementally leading Australia closer to a US or UK model or bonus culture. Again, we see this developing further in 2012 and so get in touch with us for a complete and exact appraisal of your salary and market rates being paid by top tier, international and leading boutiques firms.

• Researchers to the team have been made throughout the year – we are proud to have the very best research in the Asian market, and will continue to lead the industry in 2012 with the introduction of a premiere In-House service.

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Salaries also start at around US$150,000 for associates with a minimum of 3 years post qualification experience. One of the requirements for obtaining a work permit in Cayman as a lawyer is you must have gained a full three years post qualification experience in your home jurisdiction. Again salaries move up about 10K each year and Senior Associate salaries for lawyers with 5 or 6 years of experience start at US$200,000. From there salaries tend to plateau at around US$250K for lawyers with between 8 and 10 years of experience.

Firms also have generous bonus schemes in place typically paying between 15% and 30% depending on individual billings and firms wide performance. All of this is tax free mind you, so you keep every penny. The flip side of Cayman is the cost of living is significantly more expensive than New York or Sydney in almost every way, largely due to the remoteness of the Island. Assuming the cost of living is between 20% to 30% on top of Sydney or New York that takes some of the edge off the tax free nature of the place.

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Stay in touch with us through our website or newsletter for exciting new content about transitioning your career from private practice to in-house, along with the latest salary and job information for lawyers looking to make such a career change. There is a lot to consider in making the move out of private practice and lawyers need to seek the advice of experienced consultants to ensure they are making the right choices and considering all the relevant factors. EA will be well placed to counsel you through the process and provide you with honest advice about your prospects and the best avenues to pursue.

For more information on the state of in-house opportunities throughout Australia give us a call or register your interest here. Alternatively, subscribe to our newsletter to get a fortnightly update on the best in-house roles in the market.

The next series of newsletters will analyze the financials, cost of living and tax arrangements that will hopefully point you to where you can make the most money. There is always a lot of debate about where an Australian lawyer can make the most money and with the Australian dollar moving up and down like a yo-yo in recent months, a brief analysis is certainly overdue. Most lawyers would say that New York or one of the off-shore jurisdictions like the Cayman Islands or Dubai appear to make the most sense given the very high salaries paid in New York and the tax free status of the latter locations. Given how much the Australia dollar has appreciated in the past 6 to 9 months, particularly against the US dollar and Pound Sterling, many lawyers (particularly mid to senior level associates with leading firms) are finding it difficult to justify their overseas moves financially – or so it seems.

In this edition we look at New York. Typically salaries in New York for a first year associate start at US$160,000 and go up by about 10K each year or class band so a 5 year associate is typically making about US$230,000. Bonuses amongst the elite US firms are also paid yearly on top of the base salaries and are usually about US$30,000. In comparison, a first year senior associate (5 years of experience) in Sydney usually starts off on a salary of about A$150,000 and as we know bonuses here in Australia are more discretionary and fall short of the 30K US firms pay in New York. So a 5 year lawyer in New York can make circ US$260,000 whereas in Australia (even with e.g. a 20K bonus) the same lawyer is on about $A170K as a first year SA after 5 years of experience. That is about a 90K difference when the Aussie dollar is at parity. No small change. So New York remains one of the most lucrative places for a lawyer to work on the back of very high base salaries and huge annual bonuses. The other thing to note is New York remains a relatively inexpensive place to live and even rent in Manhattan is no longer streets ahead of what you pay in undersupplied Sydney! Taxes are also high but not as high as the top marginal rates in Australia.

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Another day another rush of hysterical headlines predicting either the onset of GFC mark 2, the “inevitable” breakup of the EU, or the “hard landing” for Chinese growth! If it’s not banks being depicted as ruthlessly protecting their margins in talking down the economy so they have an excuse not to lower rates when the RBA does, it is self interested pollies looking to score cheap points. To say the media are exaggerating the highs and lows is an understatement – they want to portray the economy as rocks or diamonds, but the reality is somewhere in the middle. Although we at EA are not economists, we are experts in legal recruitment. While there are clearly issues to deal with, our clients are telling us that the reality on the ground is far different from what you might perceive in the MSM. So what is actually happening right now?

• Every major international firm has seen an increase in turnover for the first 6 months of the financial year (for example A & O up 11%, Norton Rose up 7%). While many predict the second half to be flat, they are universally busy in Asset and Structured Finance, Restructuring, Litigation, Financial Services and Projects, just to name a few groups. In Asia, most of the growth is in Corporate, and in the Middle East, firms have slowly been recovering and have actively been hiring in Projects, Energy, Finance and Litigation. Couple that with significant increases in firms partner profits (for example £2.2m at Linklaters up from £1.56m at the top of equity) and it is not exactly an ugly picture!

• The general sense of conservatism about hiring, which has been particularly evident in the last two years, has limited growth for some time. The flip side to this is that most firms are very lean and have maintained high levels of utilisation, and are therefore much better placed to focus on groups which may become more active again, like Insolvency. Those who have hired for the last two years have done so for a reason – they are hiring to replace. As attrition rates remain at around 15-20%, this will continue.

• UK and US funds are driving acquisition and funding growth in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. As the US slowly strengthens, more funds will flow into the EU. There is significant money parked on the sidelines with US funds that will inevitably flow into discounted assets, so even a recession in Europe won’t lead to the same credit crunch that we saw in 2008. Most firms are of the view that the ECB will either significantly drop rates, or undertake some form of QE. Either way, international lawyers tend to work for inbound clients and the flow of money into economies in Europe will actually lead to more work for international firms (but less for the local firms).

• Outside of Australia we have placed people and worked with firms hiring Australian and New Zealand lawyers in Amsterdam, Milan, Frankfurt, Paris, Brussels, Jersey, Moscow, London, New York, Cayman, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo and Singapore in 2011 alone.

Not exactly the picture the press are painting, is it?

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