The Gazette 1991

GAZETTE

NOVEMBER 1991

Job Prospects at Home and Abroad

on what the student did. Body language is not emphasised since the playbacks demonstrate it to the students. In any case such pro- blems tend to disappear as the skill and confidence of the student develop over the three days. At the end of the process students are given pointers on one or two aspects of their presentation that they need to work on. Laurence Sweeney says it would not be possible to run the course without the co-operation of a panel of 40 consultants comprising two District Judges, former judges in- cluding High Court Judge Herbert McWilliam and President of the District Court Judge Oliver Macklin, barristers, state solicitors and defence solicitors. Why do they become Involved and give so generously of their time? Laurence Sweeney says " I think it is because they want to contribute - 'to give something back' - they learn from it and from each other, and also simply, because they enjoy it." Advocacy training is clearly here to stay. One student, Joe Kelly, Auditor of SADSI, and member of the Society's Younger Members Committee has no doubts about its benefits. "It's confidence building" he says "and I can see the spin- off of it reflected among our debaters."

SADSI recently organised a seminar on job prospects at home and abroad for newly qualified solicitors. Speakers from UK, US, Australia and Europe outlined the practical aspects, advantages and dis- advantages of working abroad. UK experience There was strong representation from the big London law firms; David Ranee and Guy Whalley from Freshfields, Niall Morgan from Slaughter & May, Nicholas Jordan from Clifford Chance and Alexandra Marks from Findlaters & Paines. These speakers discussed the functions of the big City firms in providing backup services to London as a financial and business centre. They outlined the facilities afforded in terms of career develop- ment, continuous training, the backup of libraries, investment in information technology and oppor- tunities for specialisation. Addition- ally, many operate offices in other continental and worldwide locations and give opportunities for short or long term placement in these locations. Most recruit approxi- mately one third of their staff from outside the firm, and look for people with a good commercial back- ground with two to three years' post qualification experience. They look for people who add value to the services they provide. UK slump limits opportunities An increase in the number of people qualifying in England and Wales, together with an overall slump in business due to the recession have severely limited opportunities in London at present. However, some firms are still recruiting in particular areas and it was stressed that things can change quite rapidly. The firms tend to take a long term view that people with the type of experience they require should contact them if interested in pursuing a career in the City.

Ann Counihan, who is now Head of Legal and Corporate Affairs at the National Treasury Management Agency, outlined her experiences of working in a big city law firm and in Manufacturers Hanover Bank as an in-house lawyer. She also documented the activities of the London Irish solicitor's Bar Association and their success in having Irish solicitors admitted in England and Wales. represented Sullivan & Cromwell of New York and he is based in their London office. He discussed legal develop- ments from an American per- spective and plotted the response of American law firms in terms of changing economic activity, firstly to new areas in the US and now to Europe and further afield. His view was that law is a vital component in furthering global economic progress. From a US perspective, he felt that Irish lawyers who travelled should sell themselves as being European lawyers as he felt this would have significant prestige in the US in particular. He said that legal services had been hit hard in the US recession following a period of unprecedented expansion, but felt that long term, there would be a recovery with new opportunities. Conor McAu/iffe worked in diff- erent areas of the US and did an LLM in the University of Michigan. He mentioned that different states in the US have different require- ments in terms of qualifying for their bar exams. Normally, it takes three years to re-qualify; however, it is possible in various States to negotiate up to two years off this period depending on qualifica- tions. He felt that if people are going to the US, they should consider going to areas such as New Mexico and Arizona which offer far more opportunities than some of the crowded traditional US - recovery will bring opportunities John Chrisman

Barbara Caha/ane

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