Overview of Australian Legal Recruitment Market
November 28, 2011 by Damian
Here is a link to a really good overview of the legal recruitment market in Australia at the moment taken from Lawyer’s Weekly.
Reading through it, it was interesting to note how similar the sentiments that the recruiters had over there are to what I am seeing here in NZ. I will write a separate post soon to give me tuppence on where the NZ market is currently at.
The Latest From Hong Kong
October 20, 2011 by Damian
Here is a link to an interesting article on what is happening in the Hong Kong market at the moment. As you will see, the almighty dollar seems to be winning the battle – http://bit.ly/ogGh3C.
Make sure that you read down to the end of the article to see the salary bands for UK and US firms in both London and Hong Kong. They make for very interesting reading and even with the currency situation as it is, they clearly highlight one of the main reasons why NZ lawyers want to work overseas.
How To Write A CV
September 9, 2011 by Damian
I was asked to write an article by the Wellington District Young Lawyers Committee about how to write an effective CV. They asked for somewhere in the region of 500-1000 but breaking the cardinal rule of keeping your CV as brief and concise as possible, I went a bit over the limit. (Also is it plagarism to use some of one of my own previous posts which I have done here?)
Anyway, here it is:
Writing or updating a CV is a job that just about every working person hates doing. We will find all sorts of excuses for not opening up that Word document and asking ourselves all of those horrible, nagging questions such as:
‘What is it that I actually do? Should I include a photograph? How long should it be? Should I include Personal Statements, Objectives, Interests? What size font should I use?’ etc etc.
Quite often, there are so many questions to answer that we decide to put it off until tomorrow or the next day or the day after that until all of a sudden, we see a job that we want to apply for and there is a mad rush to update the CV to get it in before the closing date for applications. If it gets to this point, you can rest assured that your final product is not quite as good as it should be.
Apart from perhaps your birth certificate and passport, your CV is probably the most important document that you will ever have. You may be the best lawyer with the best personality but if your CV is not strong enough, you will not get the chance to prove this in an interview. This will result in you potentially losing out on that dream job to someone who may not be as good a lawyer as you but who has sold themselves better on their CV.
So the first piece of advice that I would give is to truly understand the importance of your CV. It is not a document that should be thrown together at the last moment. It should be something that you continually think about, update and improve upon. You should regularly revisit it and contemplate whether it accurately reflects where you are in your career. If you treat your CV as a ‘living document’, your CV will be ready to go when that dream job does come up, thus alleviating all of the stress involved in starting from scratch or updating the CV that you used when you applied for your first job.
Secondly, never forget that your CV is actually a sales document. You are, in effect, pitching yourself to a potential employer. You are saying to them – ‘take me; I’m the best person for the job’. Therefore, like any other sales document, you need to make it very obvious that you have the skills and experience that they are looking for. Your CV is not a place for you to be modest. It should leave the reader in no doubt whatsoever of your suitability for the role.
Another important consideration which people tend to forget is that you are writing this document for someone to read who knows absolutely nothing about you. Consequently don’t assume that they will know anything about your previous employers, clients or cases that you may have worked on. Try to imagine what a partner in a law firm or General Counsel would want to know about your background and what potential questions he/she will have. Explain everything – if you leave too many questions unanswered, you will not get the interview; you will just straight into the rejected pile.
Before moving on to more specific points, it is important to state at this juncture that there are a lot of different opinions on what should or should not go into a CV. The points that I make below are therefore my own opinion only but they are based on years of reading excellent and frankly terrible CVs as well as from feedback from dozens and dozens of clients on what they like and hate to see.
So in no particular order:
You don’t need a photograph. It adds nothing to your application and is therefore unnecessary.
Try to keep your CV as concise as possible. However it is not a hard and fast rule (at least in New Zealand) that it should only be two pages. Therefore it is OK if you go onto a third or perhaps even fourth page, as long as what you have included is relevant and interesting.
Never use fancy fonts. How it looks on the page is not as important as what it actually states. (In saying that, make sure that everything is aligned and consistent). Use a reasonably well known font, keep it in black and make it easy to read by choosing a font size of around 11 or 12.
Personal Statements, Objectives – include them or not? This is probably the area that generates the most debate. My view is that knowing what your personal statement or vision is and having a career objective is fundamental to you getting a job but outlining these is best left to an interview. Your CV is there to convince the reader that you have the technical skills and experience to do the job. The interview is where you talk about your personality, strengths, vision, career goals etc. It is much more important that you use your CV to give a thorough run-down on what you have done in your career to date, outlining the cases or transactions that you have worked on, clients who you have worked for rather than stating that you are a ‘people person’, ‘are results focused’, ‘have excellent interpersonal skills’ etc. You may well be all of those things but reserve talking about them until your interview.
The next point should go without stating but unfortunately it has to be mentioned. Make sure that your CV does not include any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. It never ceases to amaze me how many CVs come across my desk that contain mistakes. Spell check is there for a reason – use it! Read and re-read your CV before passing it to a friend or colleague to read again before sending it to an employer. A simple spelling mistake will probably result in your CV going into the bin.
Finally when you have finished your CV, you must be really impressed by it. If you are not, then no-one else will be. I remember being at a seminar and the speaker said: “good enough is not good enough”. What he was trying to say is that if you do something and you think that it is ‘good enough’ to get the job done and nothing more, that is not enough. It must be the best that you can do and that is surely better than ‘good enough’. So when you have finally finished your CV, if you do not sit back and believe that this is best that you can look, then it is probably time to start again!
Writing a CV is a very difficult and time consuming thing to do. At Simply Legal, we can help you put together the best CV possible for you. If you want some information on how to do this, give us a call now or drop us a line. We would be delighted to help!
Australian Legal Recruitment Market Update
August 2, 2011 by Damian
Here is a link to an article written by one of the Directors of Burgess Paluch Legal Recruitment in Australia.
http://www.lawfuel.co.nz/features/show-feature.asp?FeatureID=241
We work very closely with Burgess Paluch so if you are interested in heading ‘across the ditch’, get in touch with us now and we’ll see what we can do for you!
The London Report
July 27, 2011 by Damian
I have been meaning to write a post about the London market for quite some time now. Over the last few months, we have seen a noticeable increase in the amount of roles coming on and our candidates are now securing more and more interviews so things are definitely looking up but it is still a pretty tough market to break into.
As such, I thought that it would be timely to provide an overview of what is happening over there but lo and behold when I opened my weekly email from Lawyers Weekly (Oz equivalent to NZ Lawyer) this morning, I found that someone had saved me the trouble.
Here is a link to a very comprehensive overview of the London market. It is obviously written from an Australian perspective so just substitute New Zealander for Australian and you will get the same message.
One thing to add which my colleague in London alerted me to last night is that more and more firms are happy to sponsor candidates now so even if you don’t have an EU passport or an ancestry visa, if your background is strong enough, firms will be keen and able to hire you.
If after reading this, you are interested in exploring your options in the London market, please get in touch.
Happy reading!
Magic Circle Salaries
June 9, 2011 by Damian
For anyone heading over to London in the not too distant future, I thought that you would be interested in the following article from Legal Week.
http://www.legalweek.com/legal-week/news/2076615/clifford-chance-announces-pay-rises-city-associates
As you will see, even given the very poor exchange rate, these figures are still pretty mouth watering. (Even more frightening are the salaries on offer in the US firms based in London where you can add up to GBP15-20,000 onto these figures in some instances). Consequently, someone at the three year level at one of these Magic Circle firms can earn a similar wage to a senior associate in a top tier firm here.
That is the good news. The not so good news is that it is still very difficult to secure a role in one of these Magic Circle firms and only those working in a top tier or highly regarded boutique firm will stand any chance of availing themselves of one of these very attractive salaries. However for those of you who can, you literally will be ‘quids in’.
If anyone out there reading this would like to have a conversation with me about the London market, please get in touch now. I would be delighted to assist you.
Herbert Smith mulls Australia to jump-start global plan
May 17, 2011 by Damian
Here is the text of a very interesting story that I have just come across in The Lawyer. It looks like the Australian market is just about to get even more interesting! Again what ramifications this will have on the NZ market is extremely hard to judge but one certainty is that it will make Australia an even more attractive destination for our top lawyers who will be able to combine work of the very highest quality for an international law firm with a lifestyle that London lawyers can only dream of.
‘Herbert Smith is the latest firm to set its sights on the Australian market with a plan to follow the likes of Allen & Overy (A&O), Clifford Chance and Norton Rose Down Under.
While Herbert Smith has taken a conservative approach to international expansion in recent years, it is now understood to be eyeing an Australian launch.
It is unclear whether the firm is keen to identify a merger partner or whether, like A&O and Clifford Chance, it is planning to cherrypick teams to launch its own base. Sources suggest that it has held merger talks with Blake Dawson and Freehills.
“Blake Dawson has an excellent energy and natural resources practice, just like Herbert Smith,” said a partner at an Australian firm. “One of its main clients is BHP Billiton, so it would be a great fit for Herbies.”
Herbert Smith has long shown an interest in Australia, with the firm hiring directly from Australian law schools for a number of years, but it has upped its focus on the country recently.
A partner at another Australian firm said: “They seem to be paying more attention than ever before. For firms like Herbert Smith, there’s a feeling that if they don’t do something they might get left behind.”
Another partner at an international firm revealed: “In Sydney there’s quite a bit of talk that Herbert Smith will do something in Australia this year.”
Lawyers in Australia have reported a dramatic increase in the number of firms from the UK, US and Canada visiting the country over the past 12 months.
“Most major law firms have an enlivened interest in Australia and are working out what to do here,” said the head of one Australian law firm. “There have been more visitors over the past 12 months and things have taken on a heightened intensity since Christmas.”
This, along with the arrival of a number of UK-headquartered firms over the past 18 months, has led to unease among many partners in Australian firms.
“Quite a number of firms are really feeling the pinch,” admitted another local partner. “I think there’s dissension among partners in the likes of Freehills and to a lesser extent Blake Dawson. They’re both strong firms in their own right, but partners are wondering what the future holds.”
Herbert Smith did not return calls for comment. Blake Dawson denied that it is in merger talks with Herbert Smith.’
Lawyer’s Weekly Guide To Overseas Legal Markets
March 24, 2011 by Damian
Here is a link to a Lawyer’s Weekly article which gives a really good overview of the oveseas legal recruitment markets – http://bit.ly/fbfTZ0.
It contains a really good guide about which markets are more receptive to overseas lawyers than others. On the whole, I think that the opinions outlined in the article are spot on although they do mention that Belfast is a better destination for overseas lawyers than Dublin. I’m not quite sure how they came to that conclusion as my wife (Kiwi lawyer) was the first NZ lawyer ever to be admitted in Northern Ireland back on 2003!
What I also found amusing is that when they are discussing the merits of Scotland as a destination, one of the downsides is that it is ‘very cold’ but this is not mentioned in the discussion of the pros and cons of moving to Russia!
Very interesting reading though and if it does spark any interest in investigating your options overseas, give me a call or drop me a line. I would be keen to discuss your chances.
Clifford Chance sizes up options for Australia launch Part 2
December 14, 2010 by Damian
For anyone who read my post yesterday and has any interest in Clifford Chance’s intention to open an office in Australia, it seems as if the story is starting to gather some real momentum judging by this story in The Lawyer –
Sydney firm Gilbert & Tobin has emerged as the leading candidate as Clifford Chance steps up its search for an Australian tie-up.
The magic circle firm is understood to have held talks with a number of firms in both Sydney and Perth with a view to finding merger partners in both cities.
While talks with Cochrane Lishman Carson Luscombe in Perth have stalled, speculation has intensified in Australia that a deal with Gilbert & Tobin is still on the table.
The Sydney firm was launched as a telecoms and media boutique in 1988. It is now a full-service firm with more than 50 partners.
One Sydney-based source said: “They’re ideally set up to merge with a magic circle firm.”
While discussions with Cochrane Lishman have ended, sources in Perth said that a deal could still be possible, with the situation currently described as “up in the air”.
One Perth source said: “It’s true to say that with A&O [Allen & Overy] coming here and the investment there’s been in Western Australia, it’s something they [Clifford Chance] would like to do.”
A&O launched in Perth and Sydney earlier this year when it swooped for teams of lawyers from Clayton Utz and Freehills.
Norton Rose also established itself in Australia at the beginning of the year when its tie-up with Deacons went live.
Asked about Clifford Chance’s search for a merger target, another source revealed: “There’s no doubt Clifford Chance has been hard at it and has been for some time.”
Clifford Chance is thought to have pursued an Australian merger ever since informal talks with Mallesons Stephen Jacques concluded in 2008.
The firm declined to comment on the story.
While A&O and Norton Rose’s entry into the Australian market was big news, this is absolutely massive news. Gilbert & Tobin are a hugely well respected firm in Australia on their own merits and are market leaders in certain practice areas but if the merger with CC goes ahead, they would automatically leap right to the top of the pack. I am sure that their partners are licking their lips in anticipation…
Clifford Chance sizes up options for Australia launch
December 13, 2010 by Damian
It looks like the Australian market is bracing itself for the arrival of another international heavyweight, judging by this story in Legal Week :
Clifford Chance (CC) has been looking again at entering the Australian market, two years after informal merger talks with Mallesons Stephen Jaques ended in 2008.
The magic circle law firm has been considering options in the region and has held discussions with a number of firms on the ground in recent months.
Perth outfit Cochrane Lishman Carson Luscombe and Sydney firm Chang Pistilli & Simmons are among those CC is understood to have talked to within the last two months; however, discussions with both firms are now thought to have been concluded.
Seven-partner Cochrane Lishman Carson Luscombe was set up by two partners from Mallesons, Ian Cochrane and Michael Lishman, in 2006.
Seven-partner Chang Pistilli & Simmons was set up the same year by a group of partners from Sydney outfit Atanaskovic Hartnell, including dispute resolution partner Diana Chang and M&A partners Mark Pistilli and Danny Simmons.
News of the talks comes after informal merger discussions between CC and Mallesons ended in 2008 as a result of the market downturn. The firms had previously talked in 1999.
Name partner Ben Luscombe said: “This firm has been approached by inter-state and overseas firms interested in establishing a presence in Perth, but it is not our policy to comment on those approaches.”
CC refused to comment on its intentions but a partner conceded the firm was looking to launch via a team hire.
Allen & Overy (A&O) and Norton Rose have both launched offices in Australia within the last year. Norton Rose tied up with Deacons, while A&O hired a group of partners from Clayton Utz and Freehills.
As the article states, it is not the first time that Clifford Chance has looked at establishing some sort of presence in Australia. However, with the arrival of A&O and Norton Rose, it looks like they have made the decision to look at it again, albeit in a more understated way than was planned with the Mallesons merger.
Looking at it in a broader sense, it is rare that where one international firm goes, the other international firms do not follow (unless you are talking about Slaughter and May). As such, in the coming few years, it would not be a surprise to see some of the other leading international firms making their way ‘down under’ and establishing a foothold in Australia.
Whether any of them will decide to travel the extra few miles to have a look down here is anyone’s guess but it would certainly make life interesting if they did!