I spend at least 50% of my time working on placements involving cross-border practice development issues, and am occasionally asked for advice on how lawyers might best take advantage of the huge opportunities that are now available to lawyers thanks to globalisation. I recently had a long conversation about some of these issues with a well-known career planning consultant who had asked me to answer some questions for lawyers contemplating a move overseas. Here are some excerpts from that conversation.
1. As a recruiter, how did you come to specialize in placing international lawyers? How are you different than other recruiters?
My interest in international lawyer placement grew out of my professional experiences as a lawyer in London and in the Former Soviet Union, as well as my extensive travels and experience living in multiple cities world-wide. This experience gave me a comprehensive understanding of the issues faced by lawyers that leave their home jurisdictions to practice law abroad. I’ve “been there, done that”, and I believe that this makes me a more effective counselor to attorneys contemplating international practice development initiatives and/or relocation to an overseas market.
2. What are the current job market trends that apply to international practitioners?
The globalization of capital markets has created a strong demand for attorneys experienced in US/UK style securities offerings. To some extent, these are the most “portable” attorneys in the world. With the tremendous economic growth in China, the United Arab Emirates, Russia and, potentially, the Indian subcontinent, the prospects for these lawyers – particularly where they have local language skills, will continue to grow brighter every year.
3. Do you have any special advice for lawyers who want to work abroad?
Planning is key – and an integral part of this process is being clear about why you are moving, what exactly you want to achieve, and whether your plans are realistic. To a great extent, this is very similar to the thinking that that any entrepreneur undertakes when planning a new business. This means that you need be doing significant market research to understand the opportunities and threats in your chosen market and also to be clear about whether your strengths and weaknesses will permit you to thrive in this new market. The analysis can be as simple as “If I move to China - do I speak Mandarin well enough to build a network of local business relationships” or as complex as “How can I market my technical expertise and existing business relationships in structured finance so that I can be immediately relevant to the current practice needs of a law firm in Beijing, and also be perceived as a practice leader in my area if expertise within the local capital markets bar”. Once you understand these things – you can then map out a strategy to help you achieve your goals and objectives. The great thing about developing markets is that virtually no idea is out of the question - as long as you have a practical plan to make that idea a reality.
4. How important is it that a candidate speak a foreign language, and if so, which ones?
The most important foreign language to learn is the language of the county to which you are moving! An attorney who does not know the local language is at an enormous disadvantage to competitors who do - particularly if that lawyer wants to establish a network of local business relationships. The sole exception to this is the lawyer with a particular technical expertise and/or English language drafting skills where the expertise or the language skills are needed in the new office over and above every other criteria.
5. What would you recommend for an attorney who wants to break into the field, but so far does not have any experience working on international matters?
I usually discourage an attorney from moving to an overseas market without first having at least 2-3 years of significant US/UK transactional experience. This is because that attorney will be expected, on arrival in the new market, to be “ready to go” and requiring very little by way of additional formal training. Moreover, the smaller size of offices in many overseas jurisdictions and the often unfamiliar levels of support services (as compared to a what one is used to in Manhattan of London) make it essential that the lawyer have a level of maturity sufficient to deal fairly independently with the uncertainties and changes that go with practicing law in developing markets. In addition, and as discussed earlier, I strongly encourage attorneys to learn the relevant business language in the new market. Most importantly, I encourage the planning also I talked about earlier. While there are tremendous opportunities awaiting lawyers that relocate to new markets, it is my experience that only those lawyers that do the needed preparatory thinking and planning can truly succeed in their new professional home.
6. What kinds of advice do you share with international lawyers who want to transition to another firm? Or in house?
This question raises a lot of issues that may be beyond the scope of this forum. In part this is because each lawyer who moves abroad has unique issues that need to be carefully addressed. For example – there are real differences in the nature of the issues faced by lawyers who want to make their first move to another markets; those lawyers who want to stay in their “new” market but move to another employer; and those lawyers that want to come “home”. Similarly, there are specific issues faced by lawyers that are recruited from within their existing firm to move to a foreign office; lawyers that are moving to another market to gain expertise in a specific industry or practice area; and lawyers who move to a new market to build general corporate practice representing local clients in respect of their cross-border issues. There are also the issues faced by those who relocate for the pure fun and adventure of practicing law in a new country. In general however – and particularly for those contemplating their first move abroad, I make a point of being candid about the up-front career costs of relocation, and the risks and realities of moving to a new market. For example, it is essential that this lawyer be clear-eyed about the inevitable changes in the nature of the professional and business relationships in the “home market” (and the need to realize that these changes will initially be felt as a “loss”), as well as the effort that will required to build new professional and business relationships in the new jurisdiction so that the lawyer will have, in the future, either an economic basis for a law firm partnership or a business context for other initiatives, including opportunities to work “in-house” for a client. The corollary to this is “you can’t go home” – and any lawyer who thinks that after two years working abroad he or she can return to their old firm and simply take up where they left off will very likely be sorely disappointed.
7. Do you have any particular networking or similar tips for international lawyers who want to change jobs?
I understand networking to be the activity of establishing and building relationships within a community of individuals having common commercial needs and interests. In this sense, networks are as critical abroad as they are at home – and maybe even more so given that a lawyer will usually relocate to a new market without any significant local network. In my experience, the best business and in-house opportunities arise as a direct result of a positive existing client or business relationship. For a lawyer relocating abroad it is especially critical to establish these relationships (within the framework of the plan prepared before making the move!) upon arrival in the new market because it is precisely these new relationships, combined with whatever remains of the old relationships you leave at home, that will determine your long-term future commercial viability and success as an attorney.
8. What do you recommend for lawyers without top tier international credentials?
It is very hard for a US lawyer who does not have the credentials needed to get a job in a western office an AMLAW 200 or Global 100 tier firm to get a similar job in an international market. Ex-pat hires are very expensive for legal employers and, accordingly, they tend to insist on top credentials. My suggestion for lawyers without these credentials is to think more creatively about entrepreneurial options to use your specific skill set within your chosen market, or else choose a less popular market where some legal employers might be more flexible as to their hiring criteria.
