What the Foreign-Qualified Associate Market Tells Us About London's Legal Hiring

By Chinello Nwakwesi, Consultant

London is still calling… As someone who could be considered a "foreigner" myself, I know first-hand that moving to London isn't simply a case of booking a flight and updating your LinkedIn profile. There's the visa process, the eye-watering cost of relocating, leaving behind family and friends, adjusting to a new market...and perhaps most importantly, accepting that the tube will somehow be delayed on the one day you're running on time. Yet despite those challenges, London continues to attract talented lawyers from around the world. It remains one of the world's most dynamic legal markets, with City firms consistently looking beyond the UK to secure high-quality talent. Using H1 2026 associate movement data, I wanted to explore where foreign-qualified lawyers are coming from, which firms are hiring them, which firms are losing them, and what these movements tell us about the wider London legal market

The headline numbers

The London lateral market remained exceptionally active during H1 2026.

• Overall London associate moves

• Q1: 309

• Q2: 961

• H1 Total: 1,270

While foreign-qualified hires represent less than 6% of all recorded London associate moves, they remain an incredibly important talent pool, particularly for international firms needing lawyers who can step into cross-border work from day one.

Australia continues to dominate

This should surprise absolutely nobody working in legal recruitment.

Australia remains, by some distance, London's largest foreign-qualified talent pipeline.

With 54 recorded moves, Australia produced more lawyers moving into London than New Zealand and South Africa combined. Why?

Because the formula has worked for decades.

Australian lawyers typically bring:

• Common law training

• Excellent drafting skills

• Cross-border transactional experience

• Strong international firm exposure

• Easy cultural integration into UK practice

London firms understand exactly what they're getting.

Which London firms hired the most foreign-qualified lawyers?

Across Australia, New Zealand and South Africa combined, several firms stood out as the biggest recruiters.

Leading destinations

• Clifford Chance – 5 hires

• Linklaters – 4 hires

• Government Legal Department – 4 hires

• A&O Shearman – 3 hires

These firms clearly continue to view overseas-qualified associates as an important component of their hiring strategy.

Interestingly, it's not just elite international firms recruiting. Public sector organisations such as the Government Legal Department also continue attracting foreign-qualified lawyers with specialist expertise.

Which firms are losing the most lawyers?

Perhaps even more interesting is looking at the firms supplying London's talent.

Among Australian firms, the biggest exporters were:

• King & Wood Mallesons — 10 departures

• MinterEllison — 8 departures

• Allens — 7 departures
  
  Followed by:

• Clayton Utz – 5

• Gilbert + Tobin – 5

• Ashurst Australia – 4

This doesn't necessarily suggest these firms have retention problems.

Quite the opposite.

These are some of Australia's strongest corporate firms, producing exactly the calibre of lawyers London firms actively target.

In many ways, they're becoming unofficial feeder firms for the City.

Strategic alliances matter

One trend worth highlighting is the continued influence of global law firm alliances.

Take Allens and Linklaters, for example.

Their long-standing strategic alliance naturally creates stronger relationships between lawyers, partners and recruitment teams, making international moves considerably more seamless than they might otherwise be.

These partnerships don't guarantee moves—but they certainly reduce friction.

Which practice areas travelled best?

Some practice areas remain remarkably portable across jurisdictions.

The strongest representation in H1 included:

- Disputes/Construction Disputes
- Banking & Finance / Leveraged Finance
- Tax
- Government/Public
- Corporate 

Australia, New Zealand and South Africa: different stories

Australia

Australia remains comfortably London's largest overseas talent source.

The volume alone demonstrates how mature this recruitment pathway has become.

Entire recruitment businesses have been built around moving Australian associates into London, particularly between 2–6 PQE.

New Zealand

Although much smaller numerically (17 moves), New Zealand continues punching well above its weight.

Lawyers moved into a wide variety of practice areas including:

• Employment

• Real Estate

• Finance

• Competition

• Disputes

• Public Infrastructure

New Zealand lawyers continue benefiting from the same advantages as Australian candidates:

• Common law system

• English drafting

• Strong commercial training

• Excellent international reputation

South Africa

Only 3 recorded moves were identified during H1.

However, the numbers alone don't tell the full story.

South African lawyers remain highly regarded within:

• Banking

• Finance

• Infrastructure

• Projects

• Disputes

Lower movement volumes are likely a reflection of market size rather than demand.

When is the best time to move?

A question I'm regularly asked is:

"When should I move to London?"

In fact, I was recently speaking with an Australian private equity lawyer with around 18 months' experience who asked exactly that question.

The reality?

Most successful international moves still happen at the junior-to-mid level.

Typically:

• 2–6 years' PQE equivalent

• Strong transactional or disputes experience

• Top-tier domestic firm

• Cross-border matters wherever possible

One interesting point that recently came up in a briefing with a US law firm was how overseas experience is assessed.

While the traditional market rule has been to discount approximately two years' PQE when translating foreign-qualified experience into the London market, not every firm follows that approach.

Some international firms now discount only one year, particularly where the candidate's experience closely aligns with their London practice.

As always, every firm assesses this slightly differently.

Final thoughts

The data reinforces something many recruiters have known for years.

London's appetite for international talent remains incredibly strong.

Australia continues to dominate the pipeline, New Zealand consistently produces high-quality internationally portable lawyers, and South Africa remains an important specialist market despite lower volumes.

Perhaps most interestingly, the firms exporting the greatest number of lawyers aren't necessarily "losing" talent, but instead they're developing lawyers who have become globally marketable.

For ambitious lawyers considering the move, London remains one of the world's most exciting legal markets.

The route may involve visas, relocation costs and plenty of uncertainty, but judging by H1 2026, it's a journey hundreds of foreign-qualified lawyers are still more than willing to make.

About the Author ​Chinello is an experienced executive search professional specialising in legal recruitment, with a focus on private practice mandates. Currently a Consultant at Rutherford, she partners with leading law firms to identify and secure top legal talent across the European market.