In an over-crowded market, we believe there are some very compelling reasons for choosing International Counsel Search.

Founded in 1998 in New York, International Counsel Search is one of the independently owned search firm specializing in legal recruitment. Our partners and consultants are qualified lawyers supplemented by recruitment professionals with defined expertise. International Counsel Search recruits lawyers for jurisdictions around the world.

While many of the associates we place will become partners, others will take different paths that lead to careers as corporate counsel, legislators, law professors, judges, diplomats, or practitioners at other law firms.

Our strength derives from its diverse and talented group of attorneys with foreign language skills. Since our business depends on people, it is our objective to see our candidates thrive in the right environment.

Whether you are a potential client or an attorney seeking new challenges, we invite you to explore our site and learn how International Counsel Search can become a reliable partner.

Current Attorney Jobs

New York | California | Illinois | Washington, DC | International

EMPLOYER: RECRUIT THE BEST, TODAY
Few large corporations today would undertake to replace a board member, a senior officer or another key executive without hiring a search firm. Why would a law firm, or a corporate law department, reach a different conclusion? Read more >>

ATTORNEY: JOIN OUR TALENT NETWORK
We represent clients (major law firms and corporations) in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe and Asia. If you are launching your career or investigating new practice opportunities, we can assist you. Read more >>

International Practice

---By 2010, the Japanese government plans to double the number of candidates allowed to pass the bar exam to about 3,000 to overcome the lawyer shortage (about 3% of those who sat for the exam were allowed to pass annually). The Foreign Lawyers Act introduced in 2005, allows foreign lawyers to employ and form partnerships with Japanese lawyers. Read more >>

--- The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld the constitutionality of a citizenship requirement. In contrast, American citizenship and residency requirements were struck down as unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 and 1985, respectively.

---Foreign legal education & admission to the New York Bar. Read more >>

---Overseas lawyers who have been admitted to a bar in the United States, Canada and other Common Law jurisdictions may qualify to practice law in the United Kingdom after taking the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test.

There is a two-year experience requirement imposed on all applications. This requirement may be reduced/waived where the applicant has gained up to two years of legal experience within the last five years covering at least three areas of law with a mix of both contentious and non-contentious areas of practice. The experience relied upon must have been gained after you sat and passed the relevant professional qualifying examinations in your home jurisdiction. Read more >>

---Additional information on practicing law in foreign jurisdictions is available here (law journal articles). Read more >>

Current Attorney Jobs

New York | California | Illinois | Washington, DC | International

Corporate Counsel News

Corporations are willing to compete with law firms to attract and retain legal talent. Median salaries for all positions in law departments increased between 2.2% and 9.5% in 2006. Chief Legal Officer salaries were up 8% and Division General Counsel (mid-level management lawyers) took home 7.1% more. Lawyers in non-management positions also saw increases, with High Level Specialists (Information, Telecommunications, Commercial contracts,  Regulatory (excluding environmental), Intellectual property-licensing, Intellectual property-trademark, International, Employee benefits (ERISA, executive), and Merger & Acquisitions, Securities/Finance) up 9.5%, Senior Attorneys (non-managers with eight or more years experience) up 8.5% and Staff Attorneys (attorneys with at least one year of experience) reporting an increase of 3.5%. Recent graduates reported a modest 2.2% raise.

Median salary for Chief Legal Officers was $280,000. The Senior Attorney position drew $140,000, while a new law school graduate earned a starting salary of $65,000.

Stock options for Chief Legal Officers had a median fair market value of $919,400. Deputy Chief Legal Officers received $230,100 in stock options, Senior Attorneys $87,900 in options, and Staff Attorneys $24,700.

Bonuses were up across the board. Senior Attorneys reported bonus increases of 14.4% while more junior Attorneys and Staff Attorneys received bonus increases of 62.5% and 71% respectively. Division General Counsel bonuses went up 20.29% and Managing Attorneys 25.32%. The national median bonus for Chief Legal Officers was $132,000. Division General Counsel received $104,000, and Senior Attorneys took home $29,200.

Immigration Info

----If you are an attorney from a country outside the European Economic Area (EEA), you will need a valid work permit to work in the UK. Traditionally, the only way to obtain a work permit was to be sponsored by a UK employer. A "Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP)" now exists to encourage individuals, including attorneys, to seek entry to work in the UK. Read more >>