Careers
Middle East Legal Recruiters Inundated with Résumés from U.S. Lawyers
Posted Nov 24, 2008 7:05 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Legal résumés are pouring into recruiters’ offices from lawyers looking for work in the Middle East and Asia as law firms continue their expansion there.
One legal recruiter in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, told the New York Times he has gotten so many applications from top-quality New York lawyers that he is seeing a slight backlog. “To be completely honest,” he said, “we’re really struggling to get these guys jobs over here.”
John Lonsberg, who heads Fulbright & Jaworski’s legal team in Saudi Arabia, told the Times he is also seeing interest in the Middle East job market. “We always see a lot of résumés—three to five a day,” he said.
Interest is also strong in Hong Kong, where recruiters have seen a record number of résumés in the last two months, the story says.
The increased interest comes as law firms experiencing declining profits in the United States continue to expand into the Middle East and Asia in search of additional legal revenue, the Times story explains. Mark Bisch, who heads Fulbright’s office in Dubai, estimates that in just the past year, nearly 40 British and U.S. firms have opened branches in the Middle East. Some firms are expanding overseas even as they lay off lawyers here.
So many law firms have opened offices in Dubai that some are turning to new locations in the area, according to the Times. Clifford Chance, Patton Boggs, Latham & Watkins, Dewey & LeBoeuf and Vinson & Elkins are all opening offices in Abu Dhabi, 90 miles away. And Latham & Watkins, Dewey & LeBoeuf, DLA Piper and Covington & Burling are opening offices in Doha, the capital city of Qatar.
Legal recruiters aren’t the only ones to benefit from the increased interest. Law firms are also finding it easier to find U.S. lawyers willing to transfer to their overseas offices. One of them is Sarah Glenn, a fourth-year associate at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, who is moving to Japan.
“Because of the markets, since October things have started to slow down in New York, while it seems that things are still busy in Asia,” she told the newspaper.
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Comments
Terd Ferguson
Nov 25, 2008 6:56 AM CST
Why hasn’t Ellen posted a comment to this yet? Ellen, where are you…..I am missing your analysis and commentary.
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BC
Nov 25, 2008 7:25 AM CST
Ellen has been banned from the site. There is a blog you can see about her and what happened if you go to the news section of the journal, and look at top blogs.
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joebill
Nov 25, 2008 9:13 AM CST
WWEBD?
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Ed Plurk
Nov 25, 2008 9:31 AM CST
Way to just re-write the NYT’s story. Sheesh, they get paid to do this?
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Andy the Lawyer
Nov 25, 2008 10:31 AM CST
Answering #3—EB would INSIST that her boyfriend does NOT want her to pursue a LUKRATIV legal career in dubai because he’d be afraid of losing her to some sexy Arab hunk—but that she MIGHT do it anyway because in a COUNTRY where English is NOT the first language, her bosses probably woud NOT spot her SPELLING mistakes.
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RV
Nov 25, 2008 11:39 AM CST
The ABA email lead-in for this article says “They’re hiring in Dubai.” Then in the second paragraph we read: “To be completely honest . . . we’re really struggling to get these guys jobs over here.” Just amazing to me, blatant self-contradiction.
I am frustrated and confounded by the ABA newsletter articles every week, yet I continue to read them. Alas! The email headlines and the actual articles are equally absurd, but we could at least hope for some logical relation between the two. Argh!
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DumAzz
Nov 25, 2008 11:57 AM CST
RV—wow. Your reading comprehension skills really suck. There is absolutely no contradiction in this article. The point is, they are hiring in Dubai and the demand for lawyers is so great that there is a backlog in connecting applicants with employers.
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luminas
Nov 25, 2008 1:17 PM CST
Err, DumAzz - try reading it again.
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JME
Nov 25, 2008 1:41 PM CST
I wonder how many of these applicants know anything about the Arab culture, or are they just hoping to make a fast buck. I have spent years studying Islamic history, and was at one time an anti-terror operative. Although I am well versed in the political and cultural climate, or maybe it is because I am well-versed in the situation, I choose not to bother. I also haven’t bothered to learn to speak Arabic.
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Andy the Lawyer
Nov 25, 2008 2:08 PM CST
Responding to #9— You were an anti-terror operative and you “couldn’t be bothered” to learn Arabic. Hmmmm…...no wonder the “war on terror” has failed. What the heck did you do on the job—hang out with English-speaking expats and read English-language newspapers?
I lived in the Farsi-speaking world (Afghanistan and Iran) for 7 years, and learned Dari and Farsi. Why? Because you can’t ever get people in other countries and cultures to do what you want unless you can communicate with them on THEIR terms.
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sidren55
Nov 25, 2008 7:44 PM CST
When we finally develop practical alternative forms of energy and don’t need the Arab oil any longer, places like Dubai will become ghost towns and all the workers (including attorneys) who followed the “black gold rush” will have to move again. We will have a whole new generation of “gypsy lawyers.” On another note, I find the reference to “the Middle East” interesting - there’s more to the middle east than oil producing countries. Last, it seems to me that the articles that are in this newsletter are specifically included to promote gossipy conversation (and I include myself). But at least it’s more interesting than the dry legal articles we usually see.
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just chasing money
Nov 26, 2008 9:06 AM CST
Why would any lawyer want to practice in a country where women are treated like cattle under sharia law?
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Andy the Lawyer
Nov 26, 2008 10:10 AM CST
Answering #12—The legal system in Dubai involves a mixture of Sharia, civil and criminal law. It’s a lot less less onerous and obnoxious by western standards than, say, Saudi Arabia.
As for “why”—because 91) there’s a lot of money to be made, (2) therer are a lot of available legal jobs at a time when the U.S. market is flooded with the newly unemployed; and (3) living in a multinational, multicultural environment with extensive and relatively inexpensive travel opportunities in Europe, Africa and Asia trumps the day-to-day nuisances of restrictive behavioral norms.
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devilsadvc8
Nov 27, 2008 9:56 AM CST
#11 - Dubai is not an oil based economy and actually cannot fall back on oil money. Hence, they will probably suffer like the U.S., unless the Rich Arab countries bail them out.
#12 - Simply a moronic statement. I like how people have become Islamic law experts by seeing a TV program produced by #9, who don’t speak Arabic. Watch the Anthony Bourdain show on Saudi Arabia on You Tube. I’m sure his female Saudi Co-host would kick your ass.
Americans and Brits have been going out to the ME for years, only now its getting attention b/c the financial crisis.
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