While we wake to headlines expounding the constant side-show that is the present EU-sponsored Greek bailout, EA International has continued to move Australian and New Zealand financing lawyers to teams throughout Europe this year, and there are certainly some great opportunities out there for people who want to work on the continent.

The legal markets in Frankfurt and Milan, despite what you might have read, continue to hire banking, projects and capital markets lawyers. This demand is driven both by an increase in restructuring work, and because so many German and Italian banks and Corporates have continued to invest throughout Europe and North Africa. Even with the high Bond market instability – or possibly because of it – DCM and structured finance work, and the restructuring of various structured vehicles, seems to be making up a significant portion of our clients’ practices at the moment.

In Frankfurt, we have found that Project Financing practices that have a broad international client base have continued to be busy, particularly those with clients in the energy sector. Lawyers with large-scale project experience are particularly sought after along with general finance lawyers interested in doing more project finance work, as well as asset finance which remains a key area of demand across Europe.

On the Italian front, Milan remains the finance centre of Italy and Australian/New Zealand lawyers with finance or debt capital markets backgrounds are in demand. English law teams will hire from this part of the world and language skills and EC work rights are not an obstacle.

For lawyers looking for a more exotic jurisdiction to work in, these jurisdictions present real opportunity for those with the requisite top tier finance or capital markets experience. EA International has moved many Australians to work with these magic circle firms in Europe and so is well-placed to assist lawyers looking to make the transition. Click here to find out more about the types of roles we have on offer or contact one of our international consultants on ea@ea-int.com or +61 2 9266 2900.

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