There are lots of different roles available in the UK working in law firms if you are from overseas. The question above is quite a popular one on Google, so that is why we have chosen to answer it.
EU lawyers are in a very good position to work in the UK because they can apply to the Law Society to get overseas lawyer status. This will involve various pieces of form filling and also a transfer test to be undertaken, but it is perfectly possible at the moment for EU lawyers to work in the UK. Similarly it is perfectly possible for lawyers from other jurisdictions to work in the UK, but they do require a transfer test and in most cases we understand there is also a period of supervised employment needed. Similarly there is nothing to stop an Australian lawyer for example working as a paralegal in a law firm in the UK.
So what type of roles are available to foreigners in the UK and what do they work in?
We have come across foreign nationals working in law firms as interpreters, translators, secretaries, PAs, paralegals, legal assistants, office managers, legal cashiers, finance directors, non-qualified conveyancing executives, immigration advisors and all of these roles can be dealt with provided you have a work permit. We have a good number of foreign nationals registered with us who have UK law firm work experience undertaking these roles, and that is the key to finding work in the UK as ever. Employers look for UK work experience in order to consider overseas nationals for UK jobs in law firms.
UK experience – very important
Obviously if you are going to look for work as an office cleaner then it is possible you may well find a job without having UK work experience, but all the other jobs I have listed will inevitable require you to have UK experience.
Quite what the future will hold for overseas nationals working in law firms is another matter, but we have seen in our time in recruitment steady influxes of overseas lawyers for example enter law firms at certain times. We saw a growth in the number of Polish and Eastern European lawyers between 2010 and 2014, and we saw a large increase in the number of African lawyers between 2002 and 2007. We see the outcome of this now years later when we get CVs in from candidates for roles around the UK, because we can see when they came into the country and their first piece of UK experience, which has then been followed up with a career in law in the UK. As ever, the key to getting ahead in law in the UK is simply the experience that you are able to gain working in UK law firms.
Finally, it is much easier to apply for jobs from within the country than outside – applications from a lawyer based in South Africa tend not to be successful, but an application from a South African lawyer living in London for a job in London will stand more of a chance.
We have not mentioned work visas in this article – mainly because if you need a visa to work you will also need to find a firm that requires your particular skill set.
