Young Lawyers: Move to Britain, Brenefit From the Brexit
Go east, young lawyers! Pretty far east!
As we celebrate our nation's liberation from our evil cross-Atlantic oppressors this July, smart lawyers might want to consider an English invasion of their own. Following Britain's vote to exit the European Union last week, Europe has been in convulsions. Lawmakers are crying foul, the economy is in shambles, and young Britons are up in arms. But if there's one winner in the Brexit vote, it's probably lawyers, who will be needed in droves to make sense out of the coming legal mess.
The First Thing We Do, Let's Hire All the Lawyers
No one is sure what the consequences of a Brexit will be. That uncertainty is bad for investors, bad for markets, bad for government leaders, but pretty good for lawyers. According to the Wall Street Journal's Law Blog:
Already, U.S. law firms with an international presence and U.K. firms are seeing Brexit as an opportunity for more work coming in the door, though some firms are cautious about whether a hit to Europe's economy could also impact them negatively. Several firms, including K&L Gates LLP and Dechert LLP, have set up 24-hour hotlines staffed with lawyers across disciplines. Law firm client alerts are flooding inboxes, and webinars are being quickly pulled together by law firm marketing departments.
Nervous corporate clients are looking for legal help across a variety of fields, such as tax, antitrust, immigration, IP, international trade, and more. The Financial Times has labeled the crisis a "Brexit bonanza."
Do You Really Have to Go to England?
If you don't want to feel like a Brexit carpetbagger, or are just worried about getting a traveler's visa for your cat, don't worry, you don't have to go to England to benefit from the Brexit-inspired legal boom.
U.S. firms are likely to see an increase in Brexit-business as well, as they help both Yank and international clients deal with the Brexit fallout. And nearly 100 U.S. law firms operate in Britain, meaning American lawyers could possibly work from this side of the pond on Brexit matters.
But if you want to go to the U.K., you won't be alone. Plenty of American lawyers move to the British Isles to practice. There's so many of them that there's even a Benedict Arnold Club "for young-ish American lawyers in London," according to Above the Law.
Related Resources:
- Brexit: The Week That Brought Britain to Its Knees (CNN)
- 800 American Lawyers Swarm London, Celebrate Magna Carta's 800th (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)
- World Record Academy Names World's Oldest Law Firm (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)
- Law School Study Abroad: Hot or Not? (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)