Information for Solicitors on Working in the United States

Transcription

1 Information for Solicitors on Working in the United States

2 1. GENERAL INFORMATION You are not entitled to work as a lawyer in the US on the strength of an Irish qualification. If you wish to practise as a lawyer in the US, you will need to sit and successfully pass one of the US state bar examinations. Most people choose the New York bar exams or the California bar exams as detailed below. However, it is possible find work using an Irish legal qualification - even if you don t have a US law licence. Most state bar rules prevent a person providing legal advice or otherwise acting as a lawyer without a licence - but there are other options such as working as a paralegal with a law firm or in an in-house legal department. 2. USA VISAS A visa is always required for Irish citizens wishing to work within the US. The best place for information on visas is the embassy of the United States Dublin web site at: USIT also process work abroad programme visas that allow Irish graduates to work and live in the US for up to 18 months. Details of options available through USIT are accessible at: The various US visas most commonly used by Irish solicitors are as laid out below. 12 Month Work USA Programme This visa is only available to recent graduates within 12 months of graduating. Up to September 2011, recently qualified solicitors (and other professionals such as accountants) were considered eligible by US authorities for a visa under this programme. Then, there was a change in policy and solicitors were not considered eligible for this particular visa. In 2013, matters turned around again and a small number of solicitors were provided with this visa. Any recently qualified solicitor who wants to apply for one of these visas is best advised to link up with a Work USA person in USIT who is prepared to go the extra mile. USIT people can access these visa for recently qualified solicitors if they are prepared to put in the work. General conditions regarding this can be viewed at: month-usa-work-programme/ Professional Career Training USA Programme This visa provides the opportunity of training in the US in the legal field for up to 18 months. Applicants must be a graduate with at least 12 months work experience. For people aged between 20 and 40 years. The applicant must secure a trainee position within a US company (before they apply for the training program) that is related to their field of study/expertise. The programme fee varies depending on the total duration of your training programme in the US (ranges from 699 to 1599) and is available through USIT. However, additional costs such as Work & Travel Insurance, Service Fee and a Mandatory US Embassy Interview Fee will apply. For more information on this programme go to

3 H-1B Speciality Occupation Visa This is the most common US immigration visa for professional employees. Applicants must have a job offer in the US because they need to be sponsored by the employer. The job must require at least a bachelor s degree and the applicant must have that degree. Most legal jobs meet this requirement - including legal consultant ones. H-1B status is granted for a maximum of six years, in three-year increments. The status can be extended beyond six years if the foreign national has reached a certain point in the permanent residence ( green card ) process. US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requires a 4 year course of study for a bachelor s degree. Non-US degrees must be evaluated by a US evaluation company to show that they are equivalent to a US bachelor s degree. A three year degree is unlikely to meet this equivalency standard. However, the USCIS does allow for experience to be used in lieu of education, on a three-forone basis. This means that for every year missing from a four year degree, the foreign national needs to show three years experience in this field. US immigration rules state that if the H-1B occupation requires a US licence, the foreign national must hold that licence. This means that a person cannot get a H- 1B for a position as a lawyer without having the relevant state law licence. It is possible to get H-1B status for a non-lawyer position, such as legal advisor. There is a limit of 65,000 H-1Bs that can be approved every year, but due to the current economic times there is more availability in recent years. Applicants can file H-1B applications from 1 st April each year. E-2 Treaty Investor The E-2 Treaty Investor Visa allows an individual to enter and work inside the US based on an investment he or she will be controlling, while inside the United States. People from certain treaty countries (including Ireland) going to manage a business owned by nationals of the same country can be eligible for the E-2. The applicant/investor otherwise needs to show that they are buying an existing active business or that they have invested enough capital to establish a real, commercial enterprise. The investment must be substantial. It must be sufficient to ensure the successful operation of the enterprise. The amount of cash investment normally should exceed $50,000 but there is flexibility depending on the business being set up. E-2 status can be granted indefinitely. E-2 visas are usually approved for five years at a time with the holder admitted for two years on each entry to the US. Permanent Residence Green Card There are two main ways of getting permanent residence in the US and they are through a family relationship or sponsorship by an employer. Unless you have a US citizen spouse or adult child, the waiting period in familybased categories is long. Getting permanent residence via employment can also take years and most employer s only start this process once an employee has been working in the US for some time. Irish nationals are usually eligible to apply through lotteries that are occasionally held. However, the chances of success in these are slim.

4 3. PROCESS OF QUALIFYING IN US To qualify as a lawyer in the US you must complete the relevant State Bar Exams in the state that you wish to practice. The National Conference of Bar Examiners web site provides a directory of State Bar Admission Agencies together with requirements for admission between each state - There are two stages to qualifying in the US: 1. Evaluation. The first step is to request for an evaluation of foreign academic credentials from the relevant bar exam website. This will require documentation from your college and The Law Society 2. Bar Exam. Irish Solicitors must sit the relevant State Bar Exam. The most common Bar Exams that Irish solicitors undertake are the New York Bar and the Californian Bar. 3.1 Getting Admitted in New York To qualify to practice in New York you must successfully complete the New York Bar Exams. The accrediting body is the New York State Board of Law Examiners - First, the board must evaluate your legal education to determine your eligibility to sit the exam. While this is a formality for Irish law graduates who have completed 3 years of full time or 4 years of part time legal study, it is a time consuming process that can take several months. You must fill out a Request for Evaluation of Foreign Academic Credentials, available form the Board s web site ( ), and send it to the Board with all requested supporting materials, including an official transcript from your law school. The Board recommends that all requests for evaluation should be sent to the Board at least six months prior to the examination for which the applicant plans to apply. Bar exams are held twice a year in February and July, testing practically every area of law, in essay and multiple choice question and answer format. Applicants can apply to sit for the bar examination by either filing an on-line application or by contacting the Board s office to request a paper application, which must be received by the Board s office during the filing period. The application fee is $750. Wait until you have received a determination on your Request for Evaluation before submitting an application to sit for examination and paying the fee.

5 3.2 Getting Admitted in California In order to qualify as an attorney-at-law in the state of California, you must pass the California State Bar Exam - The main advantage of the Californian Bar is that there is no requirement for a qualified Irish solicitor to have a straight law degree whereas many other states in the US have this requirement. Before sitting the exam you must register with the Committee of Bar Examiners as a law student or attorney applicant and then file your eligibility application. (Irish qualified solicitors are eligibly to sit the Bar Exam) For a summary of requirements for Admission to Practice Law in California go to - Solicitors who are admitted to the active practice of law in a foreign country in good standing are able to qualify to take the Californian Bar Examination without having to complete any additional legal education. The Bar Exam consists of the Multi-state Bar Examination (MBE), six essay questions, and two California Performance Tests. The exam is administered over three days in February and July each year during the last week of the month. You must file your application to sit the exams before April for the July examinations. The Californian Bar Examination fees are $ for General Applicants and $ for Attorney Applicants. 3.3 Getting Admitted in Massachusetts Graduates of law schools in foreign countries may be permitted to sit for the general bar examination and apply for admission upon obtaining a prior determination of their education sufficiency from the Board of Bar Examiners. At least four months prior to making application all foreign educated attorneys who wish to obtain a determination of their eligibility to apply for admission either by exam or admission on motion in Massachusetts must submit a cover letter that describes the action sought from the Board, the reason for the request, and they must submit wide ranging supporting documentation. The Massachusetts Bar exams take place in February and July of each year. The application fee to sit the bar exams is $ and the fee for a motion application is $ Fees are non-refundable. Therefore, questions regarding eligibility should be addressed to the Board of Bar Examiners before submitting an Application. All relevant information on the process and application of admission to practice law in the state of Massachusetts can be found at

6 3.4 Preparation Courses for New York Bar and California Bar Examinations There are a number of preparation courses available that gear you towards sitting and successfully completing the US bar examinations. You can complete these courses in Ireland by way of attending the lectures or distance learning. Such courses focus on the examinable subjects, past question analysis and best preparation methods prior to sitting the examinations in the United States. The Law Society does not endorse any of the courses or have any input into their content and you would need to decide whether or not you wanted to prepare for the exams in this or some other way. Independent Colleges The Professional Law School offers a fully taught bar review programme for the New York State Bar Examinations. The course features live lectures delivered by professionals who have been admitted to practice at the Bar of New York. The course outline is set out at Friarylaw Their American Bar Programme runs preparation courses for both the New York State and the California State Bar Examinations. For more information on the course that Friarylaw offers go to Griffith College The Professional Law School provides a Themis New York Bar Review and California Bar Review Home-Study Programme. This programme offers on-demand video lectures linked to outlines, thousands of MBE practice questions, analysed explanations and cross-references. This self-study course allows participants to study at their own pace and own study timetable. Details can be found at Pieper Bar Review An American online home-study preparation course for the New York Bar Examinations. Pieper's primary course is an intensive, 175-hour review that teaches students the substantive law tested on the NY Bar Exam, and develops the skills necessary for mastering the exam including multiple choice questions, essay writing, and the MPT (Multi-state Professional Test). Find out more about the Pieper Bar Review at Strengths as a Work Location 4. GENERAL INFORMATION A single set of bar exams and character and fitness assessment. There are booming areas of law such as bankruptcy, insolvency and crime, including white collar crime. It is possible to study for the New York and California bar exams in Ireland. Visa availability has significantly improved in the last short while.

7 4.2 Weaknesses as a Work Location The economy is in recession American law graduates are finding it difficult to secure jobs. It is very hard very to get into bigger law firms without an LLM. Irish solicitors are usually at a disadvantage by not having gained experience working as a summer associate / intern. There no automatic mutual recognition of admission to the Bar between various States in the US. Difficulty in organising a long term visa. 4.3 Jobs and Information Websites ADVICE PROVIDED BY COLLEAGUES Irish solicitors living in the US, and others who have spent time there, have provided extensive information to be made available to colleagues. This is laid out below. 5.1 General Tips Make sure your Resume (forget CV ) is a single page in length. Any longer than one page and it will be disregarded. If possible, put a US address on your resume and ideally the State where job is. Be prepared to network shamelessly. Get as much legal experience as possible before you go. Consider doing an LLM in a Top-14 US Law School (see US News ranking - ) Explore can you get a position with one of the big British firms established there. The Irish American Bar Association of NY have a wide range of information and advise for Irish graduates on making it as a lawyer in New York on their website - Applicants should be open to working in more out of the way areas, as the applicant pool will be less competitive there. People should set up a profile on Linked In and start networking here. Contact legal recruiters in the US as they can offer frank appraisals of your likely attractiveness to US firms and they have 'ins' with various firms/companies.

8 Other Insights A lot of lawyers lost their jobs here in 2009/2010, and it is definitely a tough job market right now and Irish candidates should be ready to explain what they have that a US candidate doesn't have. I would say that the green card process can take more than "a few" years - by the time lawyers get their H1B and then get it converted to a green card, you're looking at anything from 3 to 6 years. US immigration is not for the faint-hearted. Based on my own personal experience, I definitely recommend that Irish solicitors have their CA admission (i.e., have passed the bar exam) before they apply to law firms/companies over here as in this economy, I think it's pretty unlikely that you'll get an interview without it. The resume must be limited to a single page and having US contact information really helps. If a lawyer wants to go for partnership in a firm over here, they need to be willing to work incredibly hard and anyone looking for any form of work-life balance should look for an in-house position or find a non-partnership track position with set boundaries - as Americans live to work for the most part. The legal job market (certainly as far as the SF Bay Area is concerned) is increasingly competitive and networking is definitely the key and that is best done by meeting people face-to-face over here. The legal market here is changing as law firms deal with clients' increasing reluctance to sign-up for the billable hour model. This means that law firms are increasingly looking at alternatives to the lock-step associate model and are more willing to look at pure attorney and of-counsel roles (i.e., nonpartnership track positions) with lesser salaries. The larger legal markets such as New York and Chicago are even more competitive currently. It is my understanding that not one graduate of Notre Dame Law School had found a job by graduation time last year. I spoke to a former colleague of mine who does extensive legal hiring in Illinois. He says law grads were generally working at Wal-Mart. In the larger cities many experienced attorneys have been laid off and will beat any inexperienced lawyer for a position where the few job openings exist. I would think it is very difficult to find work now as a junior attorney, unless one is willing to work for free to gain experience or get a master's from a prestigious law school or have other impressive credentials. I m not practising as an attorney here partly because the State of Texas requires a U.S. law degree before they allow you to do the bar exam and there is no way to bypass this requirement. Important Disclaimer Please Note The Law Society does not give any guarantees, undertakings or warranties concerning the accuracy, completeness or up-to-date nature of information within this document. The Law Society also does not take responsibility for any dependence or reliance placed on the use of career support information provided - and cannot accept liability for any loss or damage incurred as a result.