Editor's weekly: Queens English

Queens English

Don't fret if you don't exactly speak the Queens English. With more and more deals containing parties from multiple jurisdictions, large commercial law firms really value the cultural diversity and language skills foreign English qualified lawyers can bring to the table. Your chances are particularly good, if you are a native speaker or otherwise fluent in a European language spoken in one of the main continental economies, for instance German, French, Italian and Spanish. That said, Asian language skills such as Mandarin are also growing in importance. It is of course not only language skills that make foreigners attractive to commercial law firms. An understanding of a foreign culture, whether in a business context or generally, can be just as significant.

One way to qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales is to complete the one year law conversion course known as the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) or Common Professional Exam. This will then put you on the same footing as your peers who studied law in this country.

This route to qualification, however, may be longer and more costly than you feel you can stomach (especially because students studying at foreign universities tend to graduate much later I didnt finish my degree until I was aged 25). Then there are the cost implications: Post-graduate law schools in this country can charge as much as 10,000 for their courses. You may be able to get the law firm that ultimately gives you a training contract to pay for the costs (they may even give you an allowance for living expenses), but this is in my experience relatively difficult to obtain for foreigners who have not come through the UK system.

The GDL will need to be followed by another year-long course known as the Legal Practice Course (LPC). You will then have to complete a two-year paid apprenticeship known as a training contract. Lawyer2B.com contains shed loads of information on the GDL and LPC as well as what a training contract entails.

The alternative (and the path that I chose at the time), is to qualify in your home jurisdiction and then train as an English solicitor by taking the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test (QLTT). Incidentally, at the time of writing the regulations that govern the QLTT were under review so its worth checking with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (www.sra.org.uk) what the latest position is on the test.

The principal advantage of taking the QLTT route is that, depending on your home jurisdiction, it is generally faster and whats more you'll be able to hold yourself out as dual qualified lawyer (although it is unlikely that you'll be able to advise in your home law over here). The disadvantage, however, is that youll have to persuade an HR team to give you a shot ahead of the masses of homegrown lawyers. In my opinion, therefore, the GDL/LPC option is arguably safer.

But if you do decide to opt for the QLTT route I suggest you try and join as good (and "technical") a law firm as you can get into and go to as many training sessions (including those for trainees) as possible. By the time you are two to three years qualified you should hopefully have caught-up with your English-qualified peers.

Another alternative, open to those of you from EU countries and particularly of interest to those who have had enough of exams, is to get a job with an English law firm and do what comes relatively easy:
Wait.

Provided you have enrolled with the Law Society as a "Registered European Lawyer", you will be able to apply for registration as a solicitor after three years. This may sound like the line of least resistance, but you may find it a challenge to unearth a firm willing to hire you on that basis. Having to continuously explain to clients why you are not English qualified could turn out to be a drag as well. It may be worth putting yourself through that QLTT after all.

Whichever option you choose, once you have earned that coveted job in a law firm you will in my experience all face the same issue: Convince those around you to give you work despite the fact that English is not your mother tongue and that the UK is not your home jurisdiction. This is not a matter of discrimination. A stressed out partner or senior associate may simply fear you will require higher levels of supervision. It is down to you to dispel that fear. Try your hand at as much drafting as possible and, as I said earlier, do go to those training sessions as much as you can. One thing I can say for certain: Clients, already used to high degrees of internationality from their other professional advisers, will not care in the slightest that you are not from here.

The rules for overseas students to be admitted as solicitors in England and Wales are complicated. For further information please contact to SRA or the law firm you intend to join.

Alex Kaufmann is a dual-qualified (English and German) corporate partner at Fladgate Fielder.