Norway and Germany Forum

[Anonymous User]

1L associate at a midlaw firm in real estate and bankruptcy representing banks. I decided that I would like to explore the idea of moving abroad to either Norway or Germany within two years. I am going to decide on a language course to start this August and need to decide on a language.

I am not big law material as I did not attend a top law school nor did I have good grades. My firm does not have an overseas office.

My question is not licensing - but has anyone gone through a similar process? Discouraging or encouraging advice is appreciated.

[imalreadyamember?]

1L associate at a midlaw firm in real estate and bankruptcy representing banks. I decided that I would like to explore the idea of moving abroad to either Norway or Germany within two years. I am going to decide on a language course to start this August and need to decide on a language.

I am not big law material as I did not attend a top law school nor did I have good grades. My firm does not have an overseas office.

My question is not licensing - but has anyone gone through a similar process? Discouraging or encouraging advice is appreciated.

I have not been through the process but just visited Norway and am wondering the same (out of curiosity and maybe some day). The language is supposedly easy for English-speakers, and I learned some in a very short time. But a word of caution: Norway is maybe the most expensive country I've been to---as an example, eating a normal average meal there is maybe twice as expensive as in NYC. They pay people very well there, so if you lived there and had a job lined up, the cost probably would be offset by your salary (I would think---definitely not sure). But if you had to study for a while without work, or had to job hunt, it'd get real expensive real quick.

[LaLiLuLeLo]

Discouraging anecdote here.

Knew an attorney who had a JD from a TTT. When he was working in the Netherlands (special program through school, not a "real job") he met a lovely Dutch woman. Predictably, they got hitched. He loved the Netherlands and she was Dutch so he stayed after his program had run. So there he was, able to speak Dutch, American JD, and he figured it wouldn't be that hard to find a job as an attorney. He was, unfortunately, wrong. Every time he had an interview, it was pretty clear that having a JD conferred no particular advantage and there wasn't really a reason to hire him over a qualified Dutch attorney. After a while, he eventually had to give up and they moved to the US, where he then got a job. I don't think getting legal work internationally is that easy, and after talking to him I got the impression it was quite difficult, but then again it was only the Netherlands.

[Herr Brun]

Norwegian fresh law graduate here. The legal market in Norway is quite small, and I know of exactly one american with a JD practicing in Norway. He works at one of the biggest firms here, and has an LLM from Sweden in addition to being NY qualified with some work experience from a major american law firm (V5). There might be others, but they probably have very special backgrounds. If you are not "biglaw material", I think you will find it very hard to find a job here as an american with "only" a JD. Formally, you are allowed to practice as a foreign lawyer (if you are qualified in some US state), as long as you only provide advice on (your) foreign law.

Germany might be different, but as far as I know they have a quite protectionist system.