Despite being hit hard by recession, London remains a smart option for Australian lawyers hoping to build their career, say ex-pats.

Attracted to the international experience and opportunities for travel, Shearman & Sterling associate Emi Zakrzewski made the move from Sydney to London in July 2007, just as much of the world began its disintegration into recession.

As a young lawyer working amid the turbulent times of the global financial crisis - and keeping her job in the process - Zakrzewski has gained a wealth of international experience guaranteed to open up doors once she decides to make the move back home.

"If you are interested in working in a global market, with varied and international clients and opportunities to travel, London is the place to be," she says.

"There was a perception before I moved to London that UK firms would only be interested in senior Australian lawyers, but UK firms do also hire junior Australian lawyers if the market conditions are right, so it's worth making enquiries with London firms as soon as you may be interested."

Citing the similarity between English law and Australian law, London's proximity to Europe, plus the large pay differential between salaries in Australia and London as reasons for her move; Zakrzewski says the main advantage of working in London is the international nature of the work and the clients (and the weekend trips she's managed to squeeze in to the coasts of Croatia and southern France).

And while she didn't anticipate the global financial crisis, Zakrzewski managed to avoid the mass redundancies which infected the UK market.

"It was a difficult time for everyone, as hiring was frozen and redundancies were happening all over the city," she says, reflecting on the uncertainty felt across the market. "There were rumours that foreign lawyers would be the first to be on the chopping block when it came to redundancies but it didn't seem to happen that way in the end."

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