Alexis Lamb here. Just returned from a long weekend in Australia where I ran the Gold Coast half marathon on July 4, and decided to pop up to Sydney for some meetings. Since I was just there, I thought I’d share with you all my thoughts on the Sydney market as well as some details about what it’s like to live and work in Sydney.

THE MARKET FOR U.S. ASSOCIATES

The market for U.S. associates in Sydney is not typically strong, although we have made placements in Sydney in the past. Earlier this year we assisted one of our clients in filling a need in Sydney and we are very close to making another placement there as well.

The qualifications to getting a job in Sydney are very similar to the qualifications required to getting a job in HK or Singapore. Candidates with a strong academic background and work experience at a top NY-style “biglaw” practice will be the most competitive (or the only candidates seriously considered). Capital Markets experience, particularly experience with unregistered (Regulation S, 144A) offerings involving foreign issuers, is also required as U.S. practice groups overseas exist primarily to advise overseas issuers on U.S. capital markets laws. Ties to Australia are not typically required.

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While PRC firms, Korean firms and Japanese firms have for years successfully recruited US biglaw associates, in ’09 such recruitment was more successful than usual. There are two reasons for this trend: i) most top US firms in Asia were on hiring freeze throughout ’09, making it extremely difficult for even the most impressive US associates to lateral to a US practice in Asia in ’09 (such lateral moves did happen, most with Kinney involved, but not in great number, relative to ’06, ’07, ’08 and ‘10); and ii) there has been a feeling in the market in the past couple of years that some local firms in Asia, especially PRC firms, are catching up to US practices there.

We know a number of US associates who made the move from top 10 US firms to PRC firms in ’09 (some with Kinney’s help). We also know a handful of US associates from top tier US firms that moved to Korean and Japanese local firms in ’09. This type of lateral move has been a good one for those looking for more of an entrepreneurial role early on in their career, especially if they have very strong personal connections at banks and other relevant entities in the target country. However, this type of move has been a bad one for those who are focused on keeping their technical skill set at a top US practice level of sharpness (in order to open up career doors now and in the future).

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