Lawyer Needs Advice!

[viv]

My husband and I are both criminal defense lawyers in the US. We would like to get out of this insanity and maybe move abroad. We've been to Thailand and loved it. Do you think that teaching english would be a good idea? any advice on what kind of employment we should look into?

[Deke]

I'd think that sticking with the law would be much better than teaching English. There are a lot of international law firms in Thailand as well as a lot of local firms that hire foreign consultants. It wouldn't be criminal defense work though, mostly corporate stuff, copyright cases and things like that.

[mbkudu]

  We would like to get out of this insanity and maybe move abroad.

I think they want out of the law profession, Deke. I could be wrong though; maybe they are thinking in terms of the US.

[samran]

Have a look around at the NGO's as well. You might end up using your legal skills, but towards a much better cause.

[steveromagnino]

Have a look around at the NGO's as well. You might end up using your legal skills, but towards a much better cause.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you are going to do something that makes a difference....stick with the law, work for some big wig law firm here 4 days a week, and donate a 5th day to teaching law at Ramkamhaeng or somewhere in English.

Or spend the time as a volunteer with some NGO or similar.

If you want a nice lifestyle, stick with the law 3-4 days a week, and spend the rest of the time kickin' back on the beach.

Teaching English is not probably the low stress job people think; it seems to me to be full of people willing to work for not much money and long hours; so you end up not really seeing that much Thai culture, earning not that much and working long hours.... even though law sucks, it could be better than tat

[OldAsiaHand]

My husband and I are both criminal defense lawyers in the US.  We would like to get out of this insanity and maybe move abroad.  We've been to Thailand and loved it.  Do you think that teaching english would be a good idea? any advice on what kind of employment we should look into?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Viv,

I started out in a public defender's office myself more years ago than I would care to remember. Take it from me that Bankok is just another form of insanity, not your salvation.

For whatever it's worth, however, here's the opening paragraph from one of my favorite novels (The Big Mango, by Jake Needham). It's about a San Francisco criminal lawyer who packed it in and headed for Bangkok.......

"Fourteen months as a marine grunt in Vietnam had left Eddie Dare with at least one staunch conviction: he’d been born for better things than crawling around in the mud with a bunch of stoned &lt;deleted&gt;. However, when he reflected on the subject now—which was something he tried very hard not to do—he had to admit that practicing law in San Francisco had an awful lot of the very same qualities."

Good luck to you.

[viv]

Thank you so much for all of your prompt responses! Our intention was to get out of the law business altogether because we figured that the only option we would have would be working 90 hrs/week in some commercial law firm. This is why we considered teaching. We figured that it would involve a tad less stress than being responsible for people's lives (literally). I have a couple follow up questions:

I didn't know that it was possible to find a law firm that would hire part-time (4 days/week). Where should I start looking? Is there a law firm directory on the net?

Most of our experience is in the criminal field (trial work)- except for maybe 6 months of commercial litigation- do you think that our lack of experience would pose a problem?

What are NGO's?

Thanks again.

ps: thank for the quote OldAsiaHand! I'm not looking to Bangkok for salvation- I'm just sick of my clients (which happen to be mainly sex offenders who prey on children).

[Deke]

As a start, you might take a look at the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand's website at www.amchamthailand.com. The company directory lists a lot of law firms; both international and local. It wouldn't hurt to contact a few of them and see what they suggest.

[samran]

NGO = Non Government Organsiations. Eg, UN, aid agencies, human rights groups/advocacy.

[OldAsiaHand]

Viv,

As an example of the sort of firms here, a look at http://brslawyers.com.

This is quite a good, medium-sized local firm in Bangkok with several American partners. They have a general corporate practice with perhaps a slight bias toward property developers.

[Dragonman]

Thank you so much for all of your prompt responses!  Our intention was to get out of the law business altogether because we figured that the only option we would have would be working 90 hrs/week in some commercial law firm.  This is why we considered teaching.  We figured that it would involve a tad less stress than being responsible for people's lives (literally).    I have a couple follow up questions:

I didn't know that it was possible to find a law firm that would hire part-time (4 days/week).  Where should I start looking? Is there a law firm directory on the net?

Most of our experience is in the criminal field (trial work)- except for maybe 6 months of commercial litigation-  do you think that our lack of experience would pose a problem?

What are NGO's? 

Thanks again.

ps: thank for the quote OldAsiaHand!  I'm not looking to Bangkok for salvation- I'm just sick of my clients (which happen to be mainly sex offenders who prey on children).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree with samran, if you want to help out and are not too worried about financial rewards, NGO may be right way to go. Or, like me, you could just find a backwater and put your feet up. After all I always thought you Criminal lawyers over there were rolling in big bucks compared to us poor Property and Civil guys in UK.

[stevehaigh]

What are NGO's? 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

you're a lawyer and you don't know what an NGO is? i guess you guys don't get out much

[bankei]

Hi

I am studying law at the moment, and also hope to work in the legal filed in Bangkok.

Would anyone know what the approx salaries are like.

Bankei

[OldAsiaHand]

Are you Thai or some other nationality? Starting salaries for Thai-educated lawyers are lower than you would probably believe, but there is usually demand for bright people in western law firms. Western-educated lawyers pull considerably higher salaries but, having said that, there is no demand at all here for freshly minted western-educated lawyers (unless they are of Thai nationality and have...uh, connections). Without at least some useful commercial experience, a western-educated lawyer had very little value here.

[viv]

Thank you again for all of your input- this is a great forum.

I checked out the American Chamber of Commerce website and found links to BKK law firms- our next step will be to put together a good cover letter and e-mail our resumes to all possible employers. Who knows, we might get a response!

I'm just worried that our lack of experience in certain fields of practice might be a big problem. Our background is in advocacy and trial practice, not business.

I have checked out NGO's in the past- but it's difficult to get an advocacy position b/c of their limited budget.