After taking her oath in Perth in 2012, Furner began working as a lawyer at Norton Rose Fulbright in arbitration and litigation, before taking a job at the Supreme Court of Western Australia.But during the Australian winter, she would fly across the world to attend higher education courses in international law.
After graduating, and with a few years’ work experience under her belt, Furner moved to Europe to undertake a specialised master’s program in international dispute settlement in Geneva, Switzerland. The program is highly selective, and only accepts 30 students a year. “By the time [they] get into the workforce, many can be academic and can lose the forest for the trees,” she says. “Aussie lawyers are highly regarded for their native English language and drafting skills. We’re also pretty pragmatic.”Working in Switzerland gave Furner more opportunities to work on challenging and exciting cases as counsel, arbitrator and tribunal secretary than she would have in Australia.
Newly qualified lawyers in Switzerland are often paid about 10,000 Swiss francs a month before tax. And they typically get paid an extra month’s salary each year.“You think like, ‘Whoa, I’m gonna invite my whole family to a villa in Tuscany next year!’ And then you see the rents,” she laughs. Zurich’s residents pay between 2000 and 5000 Swiss francs a month in rent.“Cheese and wine are pretty cheap in the supermarkets, and hiking doesn’t cost anything.
Without a Swiss or EU passport, it can be very difficult to land a job there, so carving out a niche, or applying for a role within an international organisation or in diplomatic circles could help.Moving to Switzerland also changed her approach to work. The country also places value on work-life balance, meaning not all Swiss lawyers feel the need to work themselves to the bone and sacrifice their leisure time for career advancement.
Source: Law Daily Report (lawdailyreport.net)
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