US JD in a foreign country: help me choose Forum

[Anonymous User]

3L at T10, did summer at V40 but need to move back to a home country due to urgent family reasons. I have two offers in hand now.

1) A big full-service local firm (top 4 in the country, 15-20% of their attorneys are US-qualified and have US biglaw experience)

2) A satellite office of globally recognized US biglaw (very small office with around eight attorneys, focused on the niche industry but very strong in that area)

Salaries are similar but training is better at the local firm for obvious reasons. I want to keep developing my career in this country in a long term because all of my family are there. As a US-qualified lawyer, however, I would like to (and need to) have some experience in US or a bigger legal market at some point in my career. Any general career advice would be appreciated.

[FND]

3L at T10, did summer at V40 but need to move back to a home country due to urgent family reasons. I have two offers in hand now.

1) A big full-service local firm (top 4 in the country, 15-20% of their attorneys are US-qualified and have US biglaw experience)

2) A satellite office of globally recognized US biglaw (very small office with around eight attorneys, focused on the niche industry but very strong in that area)

Salaries are similar but training is better at the local firm for obvious reasons. I want to keep developing my career in this country in a long term because all of my family are there. As a US-qualified lawyer, however, I would like to (and need to) have some experience in US or a bigger legal market at some point in my career. Any general career advice would be appreciated.

simple question: do you plan to move back to the U.S. any time soon, or are you probably going to stay in your home country for the foreseeable future?

If the answer is that you plan on staying there for the foreseeable future, I'd go with the big full-service local firm, no doubt about it.

If you plan on moving back to the U.S. soon, there's no clear answer. To begin with, your skills might not be transferable, and that could be a big problem - you just don't have the X years of experience in U.S. practice that laterals typically need. Depending on what, exactly, your practice area is, that may may not be a big deal. For example, if you'd practicing local L&E, it's very different than if you're helping local clients with U.S. immigration. In that respect, transactional is presumably better than litigation.
The next thing is the firm. Having "Skadden" on your resume is instantly recognizable, even if it's at a satellite office. Denton's may not be quite as prestigious in the U.S., but it's still a global name. If you're coming from "Foreign Firm nobody heard of), it's not quite the same - unless the firm you're applying to is familiar with that country. For example, if you're applying to a firm with a big "China" practice, they'll probably know the major Chinese firms. In that case, you'd be very desirable... if they have an opening.
But that's like looking for a needle in a haystack. The lateral market already is fairly small and about hitting the right opportunity at the right time; adding a foreign component to that will make it even harder.
TL/DR - if you're planning on moving back to the U.S., it's probably better to be in the U.S. firm, but it's more important to be in a practice area that's more transferable.

[hupu94]

3L at T10, did summer at V40 but need to move back to a home country due to urgent family reasons. I have two offers in hand now.

1) A big full-service local firm (top 4 in the country, 15-20% of their attorneys are US-qualified and have US biglaw experience)

2) A satellite office of globally recognized US biglaw (very small office with around eight attorneys, focused on the niche industry but very strong in that area)

Salaries are similar but training is better at the local firm for obvious reasons. I want to keep developing my career in this country in a long term because all of my family are there. As a US-qualified lawyer, however, I would like to (and need to) have some experience in US or a bigger legal market at some point in my career. Any general career advice would be appreciated.

Hello Op, it depends on the practice group tbh. I guess you can easily move around if you are in funds group. I think you are referring to one of country in Asia. I am a 3L from lower T14 and am searching for an opportunity in Asia too and could you please send me an email (pm is disabled here):cqwuibe@gmail.com Thank you!

[Anonymous User]

You really really need to gather information on what the US attorneys at each firm actually do. The lawyers working in a foreign country do a lot of translation at law firms. Foreign language documents to English, mostly. They call themselves a legal translator. I am not kidding.

[trusk13]

3L at T10, did summer at V40 but need to move back to a home country due to urgent family reasons. I have two offers in hand now.

1) A big full-service local firm (top 4 in the country, 15-20% of their attorneys are US-qualified and have US biglaw experience)

2) A satellite office of globally recognized US biglaw (very small office with around eight attorneys, focused on the niche industry but very strong in that area)

Salaries are similar but training is better at the local firm for obvious reasons. I want to keep developing my career in this country in a long term because all of my family are there. As a US-qualified lawyer, however, I would like to (and need to) have some experience in US or a bigger legal market at some point in my career. Any general career advice would be appreciated.

simple question: do you plan to move back to the U.S. any time soon, or are you probably going to stay in your home country for the foreseeable future?

If the answer is that you plan on staying there for the foreseeable future, I'd go with the big full-service local firm, no doubt about it.

If you plan on moving back to the U.S. soon, there's no clear answer. To begin with, your skills might not be transferable, and that could be a big problem - you just don't have the X years of experience in U.S. practice that laterals typically need. Depending on what, exactly, your practice area is, that may may not be a big deal. For example, if you'd practicing local L&E, it's very different than if you're helping local clients with U.S. immigration. In that respect, transactional is presumably better than litigation.
The next thing is the firm. Having "Skadden" on your resume is instantly recognizable, even if it's at a satellite office. Denton's may not be quite as prestigious in the U.S., but it's still a global name. If you're coming from "Foreign Firm nobody heard of), it's not quite the same - unless the firm you're applying to is familiar with that country. For example, if you're applying to a firm with a big "China" practice, they'll probably know the major Chinese firms. In that case, you'd be very desirable... if they have an opening.
But that's like looking for a needle in a haystack. The lateral market already is fairly small and about hitting the right opportunity at the right time; adding a foreign component to that will make it even harder.
TL/DR - if you're planning on moving back to the U.S., it's probably better to be in the U.S. firm, but it's more important to be in a practice area that's more transferable.

This response is incredibly on point. I have lived this. I am a US JD that worked in a foreign country. Went to a large foreign country-wide top 3 firm. Struggled mightily in finding offers to move from there to US biglaw firm. Very few people in the USA had ever heard of my foreign firm. So I moved to a local satellite of a global biglaw firm and then within the year I was back in the US at a biglaw firm. Your decision should 100% be guided by your specific future goals (and future location/country).