"I am a banking & finance 1PQE associate who has recently been made redundant from a top-tier US law firm. I'm quickly becoming aware that none of the top players are hiring junior banking & finance lawyers at the moment. There are some banking & finance jobs in the Middle East, but I am not too keen to relocate. On the one hand, I am concerned that if I go into a medium or small-size law firm, I might find it difficult to get back into a large City firm. On the other hand, one cannot be too picky in the current market and my redundancy pay will go only so far. Apart from one year of banking & finance experience, I have some tax experience from an accounting firm.
"What would be the best move for my career at the moment?"
Click 'Comment on this article' to post your advice in confidence - or click here to share your wisdom on the Legal Week Wiki, where no topic is off limits. Rate or slate your firm and its rivals with our ground-breaking insider's guide to City law.
And remember, Career Clinic is only as good as the questions we receive, so email your career conundrums to community@legalweek.com.
All depends on your priorities. Is career your number one priority? If so, go to the Middle East, assuming you get there with a decent firm, of course.
At your level of qualification, your top priority should be to get working again and ensure that you're working in a structured environment where you are being properly trained. If you can get to the Middle East working for a practice which has a reputable banking practice in the UK, then go for it. Be careful of the Middle Eastern jurisdiction you go to - there are good reasons why there may not be many financings going on in Dubai though people may be very busy in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Beware too the firms which have decent asset finance practices in the UK who appear to do banking work in the Middle East - they may not be what they first seem.
This is not the time to be picky, as I think you are finding out. If you are lucky enough to be offered a job, take it. You could do a lot worse than go to the Middle East for a couple of years. By being choosy, you could find yourself in three months time with no money left and still no job, and the bigger the gap in employment, the harder it becomes to have a credible explanation for it - plus some may think you have lost the edge after six months out of the market. There are lawyers who are only too pleased if they can get a locum position now. Don't take it from me, listen to the others who are in the same boat as you. Good luck, M
PS - Not sure it's right to assume that it would be a doddle to get a job in a medium-sized firm. Don't you read the legal news? The downturn is affecting ALL law firms, and arguably the medium-sized firms are going to fair worse than the MC or US firms. M
This is the author of the posting. Thank you all for your comments.
It is easy to say, "if you are offered a job, take it". In the market where there are 1,000 applicants for each position and someone who is more senior applying for a banking & finance role, what chances do I have? I am concerned that in the current market employers would only want more experienced lawyers, but at the same time would only pay the junior/intermidiate rate.
I have inquiried about jobs in restructuring/insolvency and the response I've got was the same - time has changed and law firms now prefer experienced applicants.
You might be surprised how much you enjoy a foreign posting for a couple of years. There will be a cosmopolitan range of ex-pats and the camaraderie can be pretty good. Let's face it, some of us go months without seeing very much of our mates anyway - you can fly back for a long weekend and enjoy it.
Firstly, what you say about law firms preferring more experienced lawyers in the Middle East is not accurate but does contain an element of truth. Law firms are now looking to hire local lawyers on the junior end and train them in line with UK or US practices. This leaves fewer junior positions available to Western-qualified lawyers. However, given that, Islamic finance, Islamic finance, and Islamic finance! I cannot stress it enough. As the conventional banking system continues to show us its flaws, the Islamic finance market continues to develop and grow. The Middle East has great demand for young banking lawyers such as yourself with the conventional banking skills and the theoretical understanding or basic knowledge of Shariah compliance. You are in a great position to enter a relatively new and exciting area of law. I would seriously consider it.
Anything which doesn't involve asking "would you like fries with that?" Just get a job and stick to it. The longer you leave it the more difficult it will get, so if the Middle East firms are hiring - take it.
Related Articles
Latest Jobs
