Hi All,

I am a US student who is considering living in Australia. I just graduated from Cornell University with a 3.98 GPA and a 171 LSAT, so I have the chance to attend some of the best schools in the country here. That being said, I love Australia and could see myself living there.

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what the job market is like for lawyers in Australia. If I study there, will my being American limit my career opportunities? I am kind of desperate for advice because I would hate to give up a chance to attend a top 3 US law school for nothing, especially if I might not be able to find a job in Australia.

Thanks

Hi there,
I'm an Australian who graduated from the University of Sydney Law School with a Bachelor of Arts/Laws. I'm now applying for US LLMs.
I work at a top 3 law firm in Sydney and I believe that if you attended law school here (ie did the JD) and got good grades, had good ECs and preferably some legal work experience while you're here, you'd stand a very, very strong chance with your Cornell background.
The legal job market is very strong at the moment here.

The top tier firms love diversity, and being from a US background/Ivy League would be interesting and distinctive.
Happy to discuss more!

[Edited by Syd2030 on Dec 05, 2019]

Hi - just one point of comparison, if you graduated in the top 20 of a top law school here in Australia and did a great job negotiating your graduate contract at a top law firm, you would get a starting salary of AU $85k (US $60k) if you're lucky (most grads would have around AU $60k).

Money is not everything, but my understanding is if you got a decent grad job at a New York law firm you would be earning over triple this amount.

You can always start in the US and move to Australia, but the other way is going to be more difficult.

Just my 2 cents.