Australia Needs Tax Lawyers

Written by Sean Hocking

LawFuel has reported.... That despite the recent slowdown in the global market and the general reduction in corporate activity, Rosemary Galic, a senior consultant at Mahlab Recruitment, Australia, says the shortage of tax lawyers is still apparent, particularly in the area of taxation litigation. She told Law Fuel Tax is a very niche area and lawyers are often hesitant to narrow in on a speciality too quickly, particularly in their early years of practice. “A lot of people are concerned that once they’ve specialised in tax, then that’s all they’re really good for, so it will be difficult to make a lateral move, or an overseas move,” she says. “Most lawyers tend to start off in a corporate, finance or litigation team, and they’re more likely to only specialise in tax after they’ve completed their rotations.” The report  goes on to say : Corrs Chambers Westgarth Partner, Jonathon Leek, agrees there seems to be a shortage of young lawyers taking up tax to begin with, however he also believes that law firms are increasingly losing experienced tax lawyers to other professions. “I think you’ve got probably fewer people taking tax up to start with, but then also fewer people actually sticking with it,” he says. “I think there’s probably been an increasing trend over the last few years for people who have a few years experience to maybe try their hand in the investment banks, where obviously the skills are compatible.” According to Mallesons Stephen Jacques partner Richard Snowden, the shortage of junior lawyers interested in tax law has meant that law firms are increasingly looking to accounting firms for recruitment. “The number of tax lawyers who actually come up through the ranks of law firms is fairly small, and you’d probably find that most lawyers who go into tax actually come out of the accounting firms these days,” Snowden says. “The reason is that accounting firms tend to have very good training in the first few years in the tax basics, and [the tax practices of] law firms tend to operate on very complex issues, so probably the most efficient structure is to take on people after three or four years in the accounting firms.” According to Snowden, the biggest challenge for those moving across from accounting firms is becoming accustomed to working in an advisory role. “The more junior people at accounting firms tend to focus more on the tax compliance areas, so there are some transitional hurdles to overcome because you’re going from a compliance training background to an almost pure consulting role,” he says. Read the full report here

 

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