The Lawyers 2025: Australia calls for top legal talent
ANALYSIS: Newly qualified lawyers can now attract salaries up to £180,000 in London, but a trip across the Tasman is proving more popular for New Zealand legal talent.
Main takeaway: New Zealand’s largest law firms have been busier than anticipated over the past 12 months although headcounts have remained largely static since 2023.
Background: We surveyed and spoke to dozens of law firms and in-house legal teams to assess the size and the shape of the country’s legal sector, likely worth hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
Key players: Anderson Lloyd, Anthony Harper, Bell Gully, Buddle Findlay, Dentons, DLA Piper, Duncan Cotterill, Kennedys, Lane Neave, Meredith Connell, MinterEllisonRuddWatts, Russell McVeagh, Simpson Grierson, Wynn Williams, Fonterra, Air New Zealand, Kāinga Ora, IRD, Ministry of Justice, Crown Law, MBIE, Auckland Council, Commerce Commission, ILANZ, Juno, Jarrod Moyle.
The law is a talent business.
Because of that, the top talent gets paid extremely well.
In London, for instance, newly qualified solicitors can attract whopping salaries approaching £180,000 ($405,000) at some of the most profitable global firms. Much of that market now pays NQs at least
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Key points
Main takeaway: New Zealand’s largest law firms have been busier than anticipated over the past 12 months although headcounts have remained largely static since 2023.
Background: We surveyed and spoke to dozens of law firms and in-house legal teams to assess the size and the shape of the country’s legal sector, likely worth hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
Key players: Anderson Lloyd, Anthony Harper, Bell Gully, Buddle Findlay, Dentons, DLA Piper, Duncan Cotterill, Kennedys, Lane Neave, Meredith Connell, MinterEllisonRuddWatts, Russell McVeagh, Simpson Grierson, Wynn Williams, Fonterra, Air New Zealand, Kāinga Ora, IRD, Ministry of Justice, Crown Law, MBIE, Auckland Council, Commerce Commission, ILANZ, Juno, Jarrod Moyle.
