Description
Not Knowing the Answers to These Two Questions Makes It Difficult for US Law Firms to Hire Foreign Lawyers
[00:00:00] As a foreign lawyer, what area of law options are there, that could require a certification or degree from JD or study law in USA?
The problem with being a foreign lawyer coming over to the United States, and this is just something for everyone to understand, even if you get a JD now, JDs can be hired and so forth. But the big thing is, you have to remember that you need sponsorship. Unless you're offering something that's very special, your name sponsorship, and then you're also a risk of leaving and going home, then there's a lot of pressure if your family comes over here and stuff to keep you employed. And, it's difficult to train foreign lawyers because they don't necessarily understand the US legal system. It's very difficult for foreign lawyers to come over to take jobs here, or to get anything lasting longer than a year.
And just as it would be in your country, there's a real preference for people that are in the US that have contacts here and so forth.
This is important for all attorneys to know. When a law firm is hiring you, they're asking,
Can you do the job?
And if you're a foreign lawyer, they don't know. They don't know if you can read and write. They don't know. And then,
Will you do the job long-term?
That basically means, are you going to [00:01:00] stick around? If you're from a foreign country, they don't know. That's a little scary for them because you could go home and your parents could die or get sick, or who knows.
Do you want the job?
Which you probably do, obviously. Being able to move here is a good thing.
Do we like you?
Many times, foreign attorneys really want the job, so their very likable.
Then the other one is,
Can you be managed?
And so, they're asking these questions, but the most important one is, they don't know if you can do the job. And they don't know, if you're going to do it long-term. So you may do very well. They're probably saying, maybe not, then they're saying probably, yes. You're probably likable and probably could be managed. But maybe not in a US style. They don't know. That's the problem. They always ask these questions and if you fail any of that, it becomes fairly difficult to get a job.
