<p>anyone know which language is widely used in international trading or international/cross-governmental organization, apart from english? any language global law firms particularly fancy?
german? spanish? perhaps?</p>
<p>The lion’s share of international trade agreements are done in English.</p>
<p>Being able to explain an English-language agreement to someone with limited English proficiency is always useful.</p>
<p>The U.S. does a lot of trade with Japan and China. Japanese and Chinese are difficult languages for English speakers to learn; English is also difficult for Japanese and Chinese speakers to learn.</p>
<p>If you have what it takes to gain proficiency in either of those, you’ll be ahead of the game.</p>
<p>well, I would say in today’s world - China.
But still, you can specialize in almost any country that has established trade with America.</p>
<p>Anything less than native-level fluency is probably not going to be much of an asset. And you’re not going to develop that level of fluency unless you live in another country for a few years.</p>
<p>You might look at the web sites of law firms which do international law and pay attention to the attorney bios. </p>
<p>I have a feeling that zaprowsdower is right. </p>
<p>Look at it this way: If a client is paying $350 per hour for an attorney, they can afford another $30 an hour for a language interpreter. </p>
<p>By the way, do you have a clear idea in your head of what international law actually entails? I worked on some international litigations and found them to be not meaningfully different from domestic litigations, i.e. full of boring tedious work. </p>
<p>The only difference was the prospect of international travel. Which sounds glamourous but is actually pretty miserable. It’s really not all that fun to travel overseas when you have to work the whole time. It’s much nicer to go back home to your family (and a kitchen full of the foods you are used to) than to stay alone in an unfamiliar hotel room and to eat unhealthy foods night after night.</p>
<p>Lots of law firms and finance companies are expanding in Asia, mainly in China. In many instances, they require some fluency in Chinese. Being able to speak to your clients in their native language establishes a deeper level of trust and connection that is lacking using an interpreter.</p>
<p>lol none, law firms hire professional translators and legal assistants who speak many languages.</p>