Are Canadian lawyers at a disadvantage in the US? Forum

[walterjr]

I'm potentially interested in moving to the states and studying law there.

But if you're a Canadian who went to and graduated from an American law school, will you be at a disadvantage when seeking employment in the States? I'm assuming that you went to a decent school ranked #40-60 but you're no H.L.A. Hart and you didn't go to a top school. We already know that the legal market in the US is in trouble and the market is over-saturated with lawyers looking for jobs.

I'm afraid that the firms that are hiring will say that there hundreds of thousands of unemployed Americans looking for jobs so why would we even bother with a foreign national? On top of that they would have to deal with your immigration stuff which equals extra wasted time for them so as soon as they realize you're a decent but not an elite lawyer and you're from Canada, they'll just put your resume in the trash or if you're lucky they'll hire you but give you a very low salary and give you the undesirable tasks to do.

Are my concerns at least partly legitimate or am I being overly pessimistic?

[despina]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... mmigration

ETA: On whether they can give you lower pay and worse assignments just because you're Canadian: http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/nationalorigin.cfm

[A. Nony Mouse]

OP, only one thread per topic, please.