11/25/08
The New York Times said that ''since the financial unraveling in September…recruiters in Hong Kong and Dubai say they've seen a record number of New York résumés from candidates looking for law-firm or in-house legal work overseas.''
Not too long ago, it was quite an extraordinary feat to convince attorneys to pack-up their belongings and move thousands of miles away from home, but when all that plentiful legal work began disappearing it didn't take much time for attorneys to change their tune.
A legal recruiter in Dubai told the New York Times that so many accomplished, quality New York attorneys have sent in application materials that he is seeing a backlog accrue. The legal recruiter said, ''To be completely honest, we're really struggling to get these guys jobs over here.''
Head of Fulbright & Jaworski's legal team in Saudi Arabia, John Lonsberg told the New York Times he is seeing interest in the Middle East job market as well. He said, ''We always see a lot of résumés—three to five a day.''
The Times story also says interest in the Hong Kong legal job market is strong as well and that recruiters have seen a massive amount of resumes in recent months.
The article explains that as law firms within the U.S. continue to experience dwindling profits, the firms are expanding overseas and into markets such as the Middle East and Asia in hopes of finding additional revenue. As head of Fulbright's Dubai office, Mark Bisch conjectures that in the Middle East some 40 British and U.S. law firms have opened new branches. And believe it or not, some firms are expanding overseas even as they lay off lawyers here in the U.S. The Times said, ''Dewey & LeBoeuf, based in New York, closed offices in Connecticut, Florida, North Carolina and Texas this year. But in the same October memo the firm sent to its eight Charlotte lawyers and staff members to inform them of the closing there, the firm's executive director announced the opening of new outposts in Doha and Abu Dhabi early next year.''
While Dubai seems to be the top location for opening new Middle Eastern branches, many law firms are looking at other cities in the area as viable options, according to the Times. Such firms as Clifford Chance, Patton Boggs, and Latham & Watkins are opening offices in Abu Dhabi and several others are opening offices in the capital city of Qatar, Doha.
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