Foreign Languages in Demand for Legal Employment Forum

[Anonymous User]

Which foreign languages are in high demand during EIR, and other recruiting sessions? Anyone know? And if so, for what kinds of jobs/internships?

[Anonymous User]

Still waiting for an answer..

[DCDuck]

Spanish for criminal defense. Can probably use any language to your advantage for immigration law, especially spanish. And pirate is absolutely necessary for maritime law. It will largely depend on the area and what foreign language communities are there.

[Anonymous User]

I am a US citizen. I speak fluent Chinese and some basic Korean. Will this set me apart in the recruiting process during 1L and 2L internships/full time job search?

[Macunaíma]

BigLaw firms with offices in Asia usually require fluency in the local language for placement there. Other than that, Spanish is useful for removal defense in immigration practice.

For lawyers, foreign languages are most useful in document review.

[fatduck]

Japanese would be a plus for patent prosecution

[Anonymous User]

I was under the impression that foreign language spoken isn't really a plus.

[formerbiglawpartner]

In international finance, English still rules EXCEPT in Spanish or Portuguese speaking countries, i.e., South America. There, the finance documents are in Spanish or Portuguese, respectively, with the lenders relying o English translations. Hence, Spanish and Portuguese (Brazilian) would be advantageous for a Latin America practice.

[Anonymous User]

I am a US citizen. I speak fluent Chinese and some basic Korean. Will this set me apart in the recruiting process during 1L and 2L internships/full time job search?

From what I've seen, not much unless you can read/write fluently. I put "Mandarin" on my resume without specifying that my reading/writing skills are passable, but nowhere near fluent. On my first day of SA, was asked to translate a big, technical document from Mandarin to English. Needless to say, it sucked to tell the partner "Oh... well I can speak fluently, and may be able to get the translations if I had 8 hours, but I can't just read it and tell you what it says."

[Anonymous User]

I am a US citizen. I speak fluent Chinese and some basic Korean. Will this set me apart in the recruiting process during 1L and 2L internships/full time job search?

From what I've seen, not much unless you can read/write fluently. I put "Mandarin" on my resume without specifying that my reading/writing skills are passable, but nowhere near fluent. On my first day of SA, was asked to translate a big, technical document from Mandarin to English. Needless to say, it sucked to tell the partner "Oh... well I can speak fluently, and may be able to get the translations if I had 8 hours, but I can't just read it and tell you what it says."

yeah, don't lie about language fluency. CSO told me about a girl a few years back who wrote "fluent in spoken japanese" on her resume after having taken a few semesters of it in undergrad and spending a few months in japan. at her callback at a V10 firm, she met with an associate who was visiting from the tokyo office who decided to switch to japanese halfway through the interview. needless to say, she got demolished and didn't get the job.

[rad lulz]

Which foreign languages are in high demand during EIR, and other recruiting sessions?

High grades