Minters recruitment drive offers Australian posts

AUSTRALIAN firm Minter Ellison Morris Fletcher has launched a UK recruitment programme to move lawyers to its Australian offices.

The firm, which acts for the country's two major trading banks and one of its telecommunications carriers, will interview next month for solicitors to take up posts in its banking, property and corporate finance departments.

Resident London partner Michael Whalley says Minters is looking for people with three or four years post-qualification experience to move to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Ideal candidates would include Australian lawyers with UK experience who are looking to return home, but Whalley says UK lawyers will also be considered.

"The main problem we have in Australia is getting work permits for people. We're actually looking for people who have resident's rights in Australia. They don't have to be Australian," says Whalley.

"Ideally, they would be an Australian lawyer who has spent some time in the UK getting experience, and who is returning home. But, we've already had applications from UK lawyers."

Whalley says numbers have not been fixed as yet, but up to six lawyers could be hired in Sydney, with three or four starting in Melbourne and Brisbane.

"We're looking for people who are three or four years qualified, which is difficult because this is the same category of lawyer which English firms are recruiting at the moment as well," says Whalley.

He adds: "They are a rare commodity."