UK law firms are increasingly looking to Australia and New Zealand for financial lawyers, according to a recruitment specialist.
Totallyfinancial.com managing director Bernard Howard said companies are looking for Antipodeans to fill a shortage of lawyers in the City.
The entrepreneur has opened a Sydney branch of his recruitment company specifically so UK firms can find Australian and Kiwi lawyers.
“There are not enough UK lawyers to go round,” he said.
“In the City of London, there is a surplus of demand for lawyers with strong corporate and banking experience.
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“The big firms know that lawyers in Australia and New Zealand will have been well trained in this field and that their law is more similar to ours than it is in Europe, the US or South Africa.”
Howard said the increasing ease of travel and global communications had made more Australians and New Zealanders than ever before want to work in the UK.