International Law Advice Forum

[CTPhIst]

Hey all. This is for anyone in international law or related fields. I want to work on learning a second language as I'd imagine that certainly helps one's chances of living/working abroad post-grad. I'm primarily focused on Europe, even more specifically the Eastern half. I'm leaning towards German but was wondering if anyone could speak from experience. Cheers.

[174]

http://www.annaivey.com/iveyfiles/2008/ ... e_the_hype

[ArmyVet07]

I lived in Germany for several years and had a roommate who was studying law, so I know a little about the situation there. In addition to the need for a very high level of proficiency in German (including a strong writing ability), the process of becoming a lawyer in Germany is quite involved:

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[neimanmarxist]

FWIW although what Ivey's article says is true to an extent (that "international law" is overrepresented as a field of study at top law schools) , speaking a second language looks great on your resume and can help you land a job- especially a job that will take you abroad, if only occasionally rather than permanently. I have a German-speaking friend who is a lawyer and he gets sent to Europe all the time to do document review/depositions etc. for the firm he works for. According to Ivey, this is the real "international" law work that gets done- lawyers sent abroad or consulted at home for their American (not "international") legal expertise. I would advise doing some research if you can and finding out what languages are most in-demand before diving headlong into learning German- you might end up wishing you had picked Spanish or Chinese.

[nealric]

Usually a language won't help you all that much unless you are 100% fluent. usually if they have a need for language skills, it's because they want someone who can draft documents and conduct business in that language. Unless you are extraordinarily gifted at languages, I just don't see that happening between now and starting your legal career.