Want to weather the US economic downturn? Then, expand abroad…or so say the mega firms quoted in Wise in the Ways of the World, an article in the June issue of the ABA Journal. Business is booming abroad–and getting paid in foreign currency (rather than weak US dollars) sure helps.
Whenever I’ve spoken about the global expansion of law firms, including last year at New York’s Harvard Club, the audience is amazed by the vastness of the subject. In other words, deciding whether, when and how to go global raises a myriad of complex issues.
Above all, there’s the multi-million dollar cost of opening, staffing and maintaining offices abroad. For this reason, only US mega-firms like White & Case, DLA Piper and Baker & McKenzie–three of the firms mentioned in the ABA article–can afford numerous foreign offices. As the article discusses, firms with multiple offices across the globe redeploy attorneys to other international markets when the need arises.
Some mid-sized firms also opt to open select offices abroad–like Gardere which maintains a Mexico City presence. And, regardless of their size, many US firms bolster their international presence by joining an international law firm network (as discussed in last October 19th’s post).
If your firm is considering expanding abroad, advance research is key. Managing the Modern Law Firm, ed. Laura Empson (Oxford Press 2007) is a good starting place. It explains why some US firms have gone global successfully–while others have failed.
The following article just appeared in The Complete Lawyer.
So You Want to Work Abroad?
There are many opportunities to work overseas;
the more you plan, the more success you’ll meet
By Janet H. Moore
As international lawyer coach, I get many email inquiries from lawyers who are interested in working abroad. Some want to gain a particular legal expertise by practicing abroad. Other lawyers are being—or want to be—transferred abroad by their employers. Still others simply seek the thrill and adventure of practicing law in a foreign country. Whatever the reason, lawyers face many challenges as well as exciting possibilities when contemplating an international move.
Plan Well
Attorneys wishing to relocate abroad should examine their real motivation and formulate clear strategies for doing so. According to Nicholas Rumin, founder and principal of New York-based Rumin Search Consulting, “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.” He notes that lawyers with a clear vision of their goals “move forward more quickly.”
Rumin, who practiced law internationally for many years before becoming a legal recruiter, recommends significant market research to understand the opportunities, trends and challenges in a given market. After analyzing the foreign market, lawyers need to strategize carefully before taking the plunge. Those who are well positioned (such as those with stellar international credentials, or those poised to move with an existing employer) need to weigh the professional and personal realities of starting over in a new land.
Lawyers who are not well positioned for such a move, such as those without top-notch credentials or “in demand” expertise, face an additional hurdle: how to make themselves marketable to foreign employers. These lawyers must figure out which talents or expertise they currently have—or can obtain—to make them employable abroad.
Rumin also suggests that lawyers honestly assess their strengths and weaknesses, and how those will impact their success abroad. The analysis could be straightforward, such as whether a lawyer has the requisite language skills to build a strong network of local business relationships. Or, he says, the analysis might be complex, such 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 of expertise within the capital markets bar?”
Michael Ellenhorn, who heads the international division of London-based Longbridge Search & Selection, helps many law firms launch offices abroad or expand existing foreign offices by acquiring practice groups. In this capacity, he works with many lawyers who want to work abroad. He recommends that such a lawyer start by talking to prospective employers close to home “about their ability and willingness to post you overseas.” Moreover, lawyers must make sure that they communicate their desire to work abroad to “the right decision-makers.” Ellenhorn, a dual-qualified US lawyer/English solicitor living and working in Europe as a search consultant, also suggests that candidates become qualified to practice in a foreign jurisdiction. Foreign languages, if written and spoken at a business level, are also helpful.
A lawyer’s level of seniority further impacts the analysis. Ellenhorn advises younger attorneys to focus on developing their key legal competencies. “For partners—focus on the clients. Culture and personal fit are, of course, important, but start your thought process by analyzing your clients, the work you do for them, the price point for that work, and your core skills sets. Examining the possible synergies (of a different platform) with an experienced international consultant can take you a great distance in both testing the viability of your practice in the market and finding the right fit.”
Network At Home And Abroad
When I coach attorneys wanting to move within or into the international field, we formulate—and implement—a networking plan almost immediately. Organizations such as the international law sections of the American Bar Association or an attorney’s local bar association are good places to connect with international practitioners. The London-based International Bar Association, foreign chambers of commerce and a host of other international bar groups (conveniently listed by Hieros Gamos at hg.org), also facilitate connections.
Networking with members of these organizations, as well as former clients and employers, can be fruitful. According to Rumin, “In my experience, the best business and in-house opportunities arise as a direct result of a positive existing client or business relationship”.
Once living abroad, lawyers must establish relationships within the local business and legal community. Building contacts abroad is critical because most lawyers relocate to a new market without any significant existing contacts.
Once again, speaking the local language becomes critical to creating a successful practice. The foreign languages most in demand at the moment are, according to Ellenhorn, “Mandarin, Arabic, and various dialects of Hindi.” Rumin concurs: “With the tremendous economic growth in China, the United Arab Emirates, Russia and potentially the Indian subcontinent, the prospects of these attorneys—particularly where they have local language skills—will continue to grow brighter every year.”
However, for any given lawyer, the most important foreign language to learn is certainly the local language. “The sole exception to this,” notes Rumin, “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.
Opportunities Exist Even For Lawyers Without Top Tier Credentials Or Experience
Because hiring attorneys to work abroad is very expensive, employers generally do insist on hiring those with top credentials and experience. Rumin advises lawyers who lack these to “think more creatively about entrepreneurial options to use your specific skill set with your chosen market or else choose a less popular market where some legal employers might be more flexible as to their hiring criteria.”
According to Ellenhorn, several things can help to counteract unimpressive credentials, including becoming qualified in a foreign jurisdiction, earning a foreign LLM certification, and publishing articles and papers on international law topics. Both recruiters strongly recommend getting practical legal experience. Says Ellenhorn, “Experience counts—get involved in cross-border deals and develop a meaningful track record.”
“Some lawyers may have success finding international positions with the government or various NGOs through websites like www.state.gov <http://www.state.gov/> or www.usajobs.gov <http://www.usajobs.gov/> . Checking job websites like www.monster.com <http://www.monster.com/> can also be fruitful.”
Lawyers Face Real Challenges Working Abroad
When I was a young international lawyer, I was seconded to a large Mexico City-based firm. Although delighted by the experience, I had to adjust to a very different legal practice. Not only was I working in a civil law jurisdiction, but I also faced different cultural norms and expectations about work—differences in punctuality, client responsiveness, research techniques, support staff and the like. Grappling with these differences far from home—and without my trusty paralegals and assistant—made some days difficult.
Recognizing that lawyers who relocate abroad face such challenges, Rumin discourages them from moving overseas unless they have at least 2-3 years of significant legal experience. After all, most lawyers will be expected to “hit the ground running” without additional formal training. He notes, “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 or 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.”
Lawyers face still other challenges after they return home. Some are well positioned, having developed a unique expertise that they can leverage with their old employer or a new one (such as an existing client.) In my own case, having worked in Mexico City as a visiting attorney proved invaluable years later when I moved to the legal department of a Fortune 100 company to focus on Latin American business transactions. Similarly, many of my coaching clients find that their expertise gained during stints abroad gives them added credibility—and overcomes shortcomings in their academic transcripts and the like.
Other attorney clients of mine have had to “retool” when they return home. Not only do they face the culture shock that hits any expat upon reentry, but also they find that their work environment has changed. Perhaps office politics have shifted, or their old niche has now been filled by others. Perhaps they feel unappreciated or out of synch with co-workers. As Rumin describes it, “You can’t go home”—and any lawyers who think that after two years working abroad they can return to their old firms and simply take up where they left off will very likely be sorely disappointed.”
However, these lawyers return home with fresh skills and heightened experience. After the initial shock of reentry, most such lawyers learn to use these skills effectively in a thriving career with the same employer—or another.
Excitement, challenges and rewards await lawyers who thoughtfully strategize before relocating abroad. Says Ellenhorn, “International opportunities can arise from any direction. You just need to be attuned to identifying and going after these opportunities as they present themselves.” And for adventurous attorneys willing to work in developing countries, tremendous opportunities exist. “The great thing about developing markets is that virtually no idea is out of the question,” Rumin concludes, “as long as you have a practical plan to make that idea a reality.”
International lawyers of various nationalities email me for rainmaking tips. Often they are working in countries other than their homelands, such as Indian attorneys practicing in the United States, German lawyers working in Argentina, or American attorneys practicing in Hong Kong.
Regardless of your national heritage, your background can be a real client development asset in that it gives you a unique perspective–and perhaps an advantage over–equally qualified attorneys with a different heritage. Your background must be a compliment to (but not subsitute for) stellar legal skills, and so showing a prospective client that you have the requisite legal acumen is key.
Last week Donald Prophete of Ogletree Deakins explored this topic with Michael Cummings through The Law Marketing Portal, As an African-American partner in his law firm, he routinely thinks about this topic. Prophete notes that after he establishes his value with a potential client, ”my heritage may be an asset because it can be an advantage for me over other attorneys they may be considering for the work. So, my diverse background complements the business value I provide.”
Similarly, international lawyers may find that they share the same national heritage as certain prospective clients, or that their heritage gives them particular insights into the project at hand–or even the clients on the other side.
Regardless, use your national heritage to your advantage. If you are located abroad, be sure and network with other nationals of your heritage who may become good referral sources. Expats often enjoy connecting with expats from the same country. And as Prophete suggests, look for other professionals of your heritage to mentor you as you grow your practice, even if they work in different fields. This holds true for lawyers both in and outside private practice.
People feel comfortable with others who are like them. So, when you are being interviewed by potential clients or employers, you should try to fit in as much as possible–not only by using appropriate acronyms, jargon and technical lingo, but also by matching the other person’s pace and inflection.
If you are not a native speaker of the language in which you are being interviewed, polish your language skills ahead of time. Listening to sophisticated television broadcasters during news shows is a good way to get a feel for the parlance. The vocabulary will also be more professional and the news topics more familiar than with non-news shows.
In an effort to sound more American and fit in, some expatriates in the US are going so far as to get professional “accent reduction” according to last week’s International Herald Tribune. Believe it or not, those with particularly heavy accents are even flying to Michigan to attend the Accent Reduction Institute. This blogger can think of some native Americans who would benefit from some of that training!
“How can I get my international law dream job?” Lawyers often ask me this question. The truth is, if you were not at the top of your class from a top tier school, your path may be bumpy. Your path may have twists and turns without a dream job clearly in sight.
However, as I am explaining in my upcoming chapter for the new edition of Careers in International Law, if you persevere, network relentlessly, exercise excellent people skills, perform great work, develop expertise, brand yourself effectively, and willingly “zigzag” throughout your career, you will eventually succeed. You may not end up with the job that you originally envisioned, but from my observation, really determined lawyers who aspire to international careers eventually get one. (In fact, nowadays it’s even easier to do so as the number of international law jobs increases. Thanks, Globalization!)
How do these lawyers do it? As mentioned, they position themselves for success. And, they are willing to take a job just to move another rung up the ladder. Perhaps they take a particular job to acquire a needed skill or break into an industry. Or, perhaps they take an otherwise unpalatable job for the resume boost that it offers, knowing that they will eventually zig-zag up to a better position.
This came to mind when I read yesterday’s Wall Street Journal Law Blog post interviewing Cameron Stracher, author of Dinner with Dad. The media lawyer and New York Law School professor dished about a variety of topics. When asked whether he advises his law students to take positions at grueling firms like Sullivan & Cromwell, the author stated, ”And honestly most of the time I tell them that they should because I know that as unhappy as I know they’re going to be, they need that on their resume to go somewhere where they might be happier.”
Bingo. As you zig-zag up the international law career ladder, you might need to accept–albeit temporarily–a job at a prestigious sweat shop because working there will give you instant credibility down the line. Keep your eye on the prize.
