bennyn

Hi all,

Any ideas on the ways to get a job as a Solicitor (Commercial) in Oz? I am not admitted (yet) in Oz, but I am a registered Solicitor in the UK.

Thanks,
Ben

owieb

Wouldn't you have to retrain to be a solicitor in Australia as the laws are different?

bondipom

Can a NSW solicotor work elsewhere in OZ as laws vary around Oz?

owieb

I've no idea that's why I asked!

Maybe someone can enlighten us?

PeteY

I don't know either.....but i do know that one of our friends who is a lawyer over in aus came to the UK and had a years work as a solicitor on his working holiday visa...

If it works one way, surely its got to be possible to go the other?

Or not....

bennyn

I’m waiting for my application to the Victoria Bar to be approved (hopefully...). You are right, the laws are different, but if you are experienced, commercial subject should not be a problem, as they are very similar.

bondipom

If we were solicitors we would be asking you for payment by the hour for advice. Anything else we could charge you for?

owieb

Thanks for that Bennyn, now I know! :lecture:

tiredwithtwins

not a solicitor (just finished law degree nearly tho!) but I would have thouight a simple search through the uni law school websites would point you in the right direction? what about the law society? and if you have applied to the bar in victoria you must have had to submit some sort of educational evidence - surely they can help? what about the big law firms who have international offices?

to be honest, you are being a bit lazy - surely you must have at least researched your job prospects in Australia before making the decision to apply? sorry, dont mean to be rude, but......

Sue:lecture:

bennyn

Sue,
Of course I’ve done (most) of what you suggested. I wanted some more ideas. Also, these things are not easy to do by emails. Hope maybe someone knows about an agency that specializes in these things, maybe someone knows of an opening....
It’s always good to try your luck...
thanks anyway
Ben

tiredwithtwins

hi ben
sorry...as I said I didnt mean to sound rude.
have you approached your old uni to see if any of the lecturers have any contacts? at mine, they all seemed to know someone somewhere.....
good luck!
hope I didnt cause any offence

sue

THYE.A.

Ben,

I got my LL.B from Uni of Sydney in 1990 and got admitted to NSW Bar.

MY application for Skill Migration was submitted to Adelaide two months ago.Actually I am uncertain of my employment prospect in Australia since I am already in my late thirties and have not Australia working experience,and I am not a native English speaker.

As far as I know, once you are admitted in one state, you are eligible to apply for admission in another state,by reciprocal recognition.

Please check up on their law society web site.NSW Admission Board is at www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lpab

Hope that helps.

Nicstids

Hi Ben,

I'm a solicitor too - 14 years qualified doing PI. I take that you're aware that you will have to be admitted in a state in Aus in order to apply for an Independent Skilled Visa? I'll be interested to hear how you get on with applying to Victoria. I applied to Western Australia and was told that I would need to take 7 exams (including Conveyancing and Property for God's sake!!) and be articled for a year before they would admit me. Needless to say that is a complete non-starter...

If you search on both this and the Immigration forums you'll see from previous posts that the easiest way for an English solicitor to be admitted in Aus is to apply in Queensland. They have a system of conditional admission which is recognised by DIMIA. However you will have to attend an admission ceremony in person in Brisbane. That system of conditional admission is going to change in the near future apparently though.

I was over in Aus in April and spoke to various legal recruitment agencies in Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane. I also have details of one recommended to me in Melbourne if you'd like the details. It is possible obviously to work as a para legal without being admitted but the pay is correspondingly lower. Presumably you're looking at working in Melbourne? We were quite keen to go to Adelaide but I was very put off by the agent I spoke to there who said that firms are very suspicious of inter-state applicants let alone Poms!! Ideally I would like to do something completely different in Aus as I'm fed up with being a lawyer and the general impression I got is that smaller firms are quite suspicious of "foreign" candidates and it can take some time to find a job. It may be easier for you though in the Commercial field than for me....