Advice for Overseas Attorneys

Sacco Mann often gets enquiries from overseas attorneys who are interested in furthering their career in the UK or Europe. The level to which we are able to help varies depending on a number of factors:

Industry Vs Practice

Generally speaking, the majority of UK Patent and Trade Mark Practices will require you to cross qualify with the UK examinations (see separate 'Route to Qualification' article). The obvious impact of this is on salary. A typical London salary for a trainee is around the £30k - £40k mark depending on previous experience, although do bear in mind that once you reach qualified status within a good firm, you can expect in excess of around £70k - £80k per annum (see separate ‘Salary Survey’ section).

Within the Industry sector, companies have considerably more freedom to recruit candidates who suit their business and IP portfolio most closely. An example would be a UK or European base of a US head-quartered business which needs a US attorney on site, in either the UK or Europe, due to the amount of US work in the business generally. The type of qualifications required will depend according to the business and the location, but commonly companies will have a preference for attorneys who are European qualified, whereas they may not be as concerned about UK qualifications.

Consequently, we regularly advise candidates from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, and South Africa, where large multi-nationals frequently have their headquarters.

Patents Vs Trade Marks

Notwithstanding the above advice, which is more predominantly aimed at Patent Attorneys, candidates who have an overseas qualification in Trade Marks also need to cross qualify in the UK. While candidates are able to handle formalities / administrative roles in the meantime, ultimately to practice in the UK, you will require a UK qualification.

Typical jurisdictions from which candidates seek to cross qualify include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and other EU Countries.

How can Sacco Mann help Overseas Attorneys?

We occasionally receive instructions on Industry roles where our clients are either actively or potentially looking to consider overseas attorneys for the reasons above. We rarely recruit candidates directly from an overseas jurisdiction into a UK Private Practice.
However, we can and do assist candidates who have first qualified in an overseas jurisdiction once they have built up a couple of years' experience in the UK and are on route to UK qualification.