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BigNicksPizza

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OCI Interviews for London Offices

Post by BigNicksPizza » Fri Apr 29, 2016 1:07 pm

I've noticed some firms interview for London offices during OCI interviews in the United States. Curious if anyone started working in London or has any insight into what it would be like. Pro and cons vs. starting in New York and how long you are expected to stay there etc.

favabeansoup

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Re: OCI Interviews for London Offices

Post by favabeansoup » Fri Apr 29, 2016 1:43 pm

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=234027

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... p?t=158640

Direct quote from another user:

"I know a bit about UK and US firms in London. There are probably just over 100 US lawyers in London. They mostly practice securities law (high-yield, IPO, secondary offerings, etc.) and are New York certified. They are normally looking for amazing connections to London (family, work experience, internships) and European languages (Spanish, French, German) or Middle Eastern language. Also, a top school (T14) is almost mandatory (for the international recognition), although amazing grades aren't necessary (median would suffice). These lawyers (normally called Capital Markets lawyers) travel a LOT. Some I met with traveled once a week internationally (they pick you up in a nice state car and fly you business class, the European way!), and most traveled internationally a few times a year. They also work a little less than NY firms (more towards 2,400 hours per year), and they get a guaranteed 5 weeks paid vacation!

They pay New York market. The UK firm I'm familiar with pays in pounds and uses the average exchange rate of the previous year to determine how much in pounds to pay (so right now the exchange rate is about 1.60, so you'd get 100k in pounds). Then after this they add on an additional 20k-40k in pounds, depending on the firm, onto your salary to make up for the taxes.

You must pay UK taxes. You will be exempt for the firs $90k in US taxes. You will also be exempt for any taxes you pay to the UK government. So, if you pay more in UK taxes than you would have to pay in US taxes, you don't owe any US taxes. But you still need to file a return. Right now in the UK you are paying 30% on anything under 30k pounds, 40% on anything between 30-150k pounds, and 50% on anything over 150k pounds. You also have a fat sales tax, and have to pay into health care (like 6k pounds or something on a big law salary).

I calculated that after taxes and everything (with a 25k cost of living adjustment) you will take home about 70k pounds/year. That equals out to about 5.3k per month. A nice two bedroom apartment in London about 30 minutes away from the financial district (The City) costs about 2.5-3.5k per month. if you get a one bedroom you can possible get closer to 2k per month. Normally you are looking at 500-700 pounds per week (the rates are per week) plus utilities, council taxes (about 100-200 per month), etc.

Also, everything there is more expensive. I think I looked it up, and a VW Golf car costs 16,000 POUNDS. Multiply that by 1.6 or 2.00, depending on the exchange rate, and you've get what that is in dollars. A big mac at McDonalds is almost the same in pounds as it is in dollars here in the US. So pounds do not equal more money!!!!

And, if the exchange rate get's worse, i.e., back to 2 dollars per pound like it was in 2008-20010, you get screwed. So instead of getting 100,000 pounds base salary, your second year might drop to like 80,000 pounds salary cause of the crappy exchange rate. Again, this is for the UK firms that I'm familiar with. I think the US firms might be a bit more generous with their cost of living adjustment to make up for this. But it's pretty similar."

Edit: NOT MINE. See thread above. Also note that it was from about 5 years ago so things might have changed a little.

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