Canadian lawyers at an advantage in overseas firms

Awareness of cultures leads to success on global legal stage
Margaret McCaffery, Financial Post Published: Wednesday, February 06, 2008

With London surpassing New York in the number of IPOs in 2007, it's no surprise that U.K.-based law firms are hunting for legal talent beyond their shores.

U.K. recruitment of Canadians began in earnest in 1994. Conventional wisdom had it that the chosen lawyers didn't stand a chance of making partner in the massive U.K.-based international firms, where high leverage between partners and associates makes it tough for lawyers to achieve partner status.

Nonetheless, a number of Canadian recruits are bucking the odds and not only achieving partnership status, but playing a prominent role in the success of international law firms.

Great article (continued here). I have three Canadian colleagues who have pursued work outside of Canada and are really enjoying their experience. Perhaps this is another answer to my recent post about the huge influx of law graduates. How's that for a solution? Import lawyers from other jurisdictions, and export our own law graduates. Balance is good, eh?