<p>Hello,</p>
<p>Is anyone aware of law firms of which sponsor graduate study in the U.S? Anyone who knows of this kind of sponsorship etc. would be a great help.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I recently started a thread on this topic (Called Golden Handcuffs). A majority of the people on this forum said they never heard of such a thing... and now you bring it up. A professor of mine, on the other hand, told me that there is such a thing. </p>
<p>Interesting... Should it be re-visted?</p>
<p>And so are you aware of any such firms which take out these sponsorships?</p>
<p>The professor did not give me any details of such firms. I will have to ask her next time I see her</p>
<p>If you're asking if firms will pay your law school tuition, then no, this doesn't happen.</p>
<p>If you are working at a law firm that is large enough, there is a possibiity that they will help fund (but not completely fund) either law school (if you are not yet a lawyer but, let's say, are a very promising paralegal) or even graduate study, if it is in a field that would be of use to the firm. But it's not that common. And there may be some strings attached.</p>
<p>If you are a minority student applying to law school, some law firms and some bar associations have scholarship funds available (again, not usually the full tuition).</p>
<p>Having read your other thread, I now understand your question a bit better.</p>
<p>It may be that a UK-based law firm with offices in the US (Clifford Chance, for instance) will "sponsor", perhaps fund some of your law school expenses in the US in order to have a US-based lawyer with a British background.</p>
<p>Maybe, maybe not. You have to contact such firms and ask them. And, as Jonri pointed out in your other thread, you also have to include in any such arrangements a guarantee from that firm that they will take the necessary steps to ensure that you can work in the US afterwards. If a firm is willing to do these, then in return you will no doubt be asked to make certain commitments.</p>
<p>So if I was to convert to U.S from U.K, would I have the substancially better pay of which American lawyers get, if I was to be working in the U.S, yet under a U.K/International firm?</p>
<p>Clifford Chance merged with a US firm, Rogers & Wells. Clifford Chance is UK based. It hires US trained lawyers in the US and UK trained attorneys in the UK. It does offer some UK attorneys who are employed by CC in the UK the chance to work in the US for a period of years--but those are generally UK trained attorneys who will opine on UK law for American clients. (And the American lawyers in the UK will do mostly private equity deals and opine on American laws for UK clients.)</p>
<p>I'd be stunned if CC would pay a UK citizen's way through an American law school. It's got a gazillion UK LLM grads and UK attorneys who want to spend a few years in the US paying lots less $ in taxes to have to offer that sort of deal to someone. It usually "rotates" these attorneys to the US for a 2-3 year stint. Many of these attorneys take and pass the New York bar. </p>
<p>It IS sometimes possible for a UK trained attorney to get a job in the US straight out of an Inn. But the expertise he's being hired for is UK law. There's no reason I can think of why a firm would need a UK citizen so badly that it would pay his way through law school in the US. That's a pipe dream, IMO.</p>
<p>I've tried to help, but I really don't understand what it is you want to do. Again, you "sound" as if English is not your first language, so perhaps something is getting lost in the translation. I'm beginning to think the bottom line is that you want to immigrate to the US and get a job paying what seems to you like a lot of $ working as an attorney.</p>
<p>Again, you can't just come to the US because you want to do so. US students take on $100,000 + in debt to go to a top law school and no firm is going to say that just because you are from a different nation, especially the UK, it will foot the bill for you. That's a pipe dream. </p>
<p>If you stay in the UK and qualify for the bar in the UK and work there getting experience, you may be able to get Freshfields, Clifford Chance, Herbert Smith, etc. to offer you a job in a US office. Usually these jobs ar offered to people who have worked for those firms for a minimum of 2 years in the UK. Sometimes, there are exceptions. But, please believe me when I say those jobs are HARD to get. How much you will get paid depends upon the policies of the particular firm which hires you. Moreover, in most cases, you only work in the US for about 2 years and then you are expected to leave. </p>
<p>IMO, if you plan to get trained in the UK, you'd be better off asking how much the firms I've mentioned and others pay UK barristers or solicitors to work in their US offices and how easy or hard it is to get such a job and how to go about doing it in the UK.</p>
<p>For the jobs where firms allow you to work in the U.S - will the same salary of a U.S lawyer exist, or will it be a U.K salary?</p>