Advice appreciated in finding a suitable job !

Hi everyone,

So I have applied for the spouse visa. Hoping to have it by end of September so that I can move to London by October to be with my husband.

I recently graduated from law school in May 2013 with a J.D. In addition to a J.D., I have a B.S. in Business Management and an M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies, with some language proficiency (fluent in Urdu, proficient in Persian and Turkish). Though admittedly it's been a while since I've properly used my Persian and Turkish, so I need to brush up on these languages a bit in the next two months hopefully.

I recently took the New York bar exam last week. I believe for the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme, you must be licensed somewhere in the US to be able to transfer and become either a solicitor or barrister in the UK, right?

I will not find out my bar exam result until November. But ideally I'd like to begin work right away. I suppose one month is not a huge time to wait, in case I were to find a lawyer job in London in November...

But what would people here recommend I do? And am I able to start applying for jobs without having a visa in my hands yet?

In case, God forbid, I should not pass the bar exam (which may happen as I was stressed with visa application among other things while I was supposed to be studying!), with my degrees in mind, what kind of jobs might be available for someone like me in London? I'm pretty versatile, and would be interested in anything from a policy job to consulting to working in a museum (I love museums:). I know beggars cannot be choosers, but I would prefer a job that involves me interacting with people daily and also not being enclosed to a cubicle all day or some place that is like a dungeon with little to no natural daylight.

I spoke to my husband, and he thinks it would be best for me to know exactly what kind of job I am interested in before I start using his friends as resources to help me find a job if need be.

Also, as I've been a student my entire life, I have no real *paid* work experience. After my first year in law school, for my summer legal position, I worked unpaid at Legal Aid, mostly on divorce pleadings and child custody cases. My second summer I worked at a state commission against discrimination, where I represented clients in conciliations who were discriminated against either in the workplace or housing. I did win a few settlements for my clients too. And then my last semester in law school I worked at a local town court conducting mediations in small claims, and had some successful mediations where the parties were able to settle.

So, any thoughts?! Advice and/or any guidance would be greatly appreciated ! My husband works in the medical field, so he has admitted that he can be of no use to me in helping me find a job in my field or providing guidance, as he wouldn't even know where to begin looking.

I checked out the threads in this forum and started searching on some websites that people gave as resources. I'm starting to panic though. It seems like most professional jobs require a license of some type, or significant work experience, which I do not have. But I have so much debt from student loans to pay off that I would really like a professional job that will allow me to start making student loan payments. Also, for jobs that list interview dates in August or September, but I will not be in the UK until October... should I mention in a cover letter that I will be moving to the UK in October? Or not even bother as they wouldn't consider me at all? Is it common to do phone or skype interviews?

Any advice would be very much appreciated ! I am really grateful for everyone on this forum. This forum is a godsend ! Thank you ! And I hope I will be able to pay it forward once I am settled in the UK and actually know what I am doing

I don't have personal experience with law, but a US friend of mine is studying law and recently came to the UK to take some classes and exams before going back to the US.  I had asked her if she had plans to practice in the UK in the future and was thinking of moving over.  

It was her impression that a JD is not recognized in the UK on the same level as the US, and even if you are licensed to practice in the US, you still need to pass a series of exams in the UK that test your knowledge of UK law since there will be differences to US law.  And additionally, there are variations between England, Wales, Scotland, and NI, so you need to demonstate you are proficient for that country's standards depending on where you will want to practice.  As far as she is aware, there isn't a way to come to the UK with foreign degrees/licenses, do a simple conversion like a NARIC assessment, and immediately be able to practice.  IIRC, there are law conversion classes, but they take a few years to complete.  I believe you can still be employed by a law firm while you study/convert, but it won't be in the capacity of a fully registered solicitor.  

ETA - Sorry that's not more informative; we didn't really get that much into the specifics of it all.  I just asked and those were her preliminary impressions.  If you've delved a bit deeper and there's more to it, obviously disregard the above. 

In regards to applying for jobs before moving over...

I applied for jobs before my visa was issued.  I ticked "no" for the boxes that asked if you currently have permission to work in the UK, but I explained it in the covering letter.  If I recall correctly, I phrased it something like:  I will be moving to the UK on [date], pending the approval of a spouse visa that will allow me to live and work in the UK.  I volunteered my availability and willingness to come to the UK prior to moving over for an in-person interview if I was shortlisted, and mentioned that I would also be willing to do a phone and/or Skype video chat interview from the US.  I did a phone interview in the end, and that was sufficient to be offered the job.    

If you pass the NY bar, then you can qualify to do the QLTS. Check the solicitors regulation authority website for details on all that. Studying to take it will be like studying for the bar all over again, so keep that in mind. It will not be an immediate or easy thing to do. I'm planning on doing the same route with the SC bar.

In the UK, your JD is merely a bachelors level thing. It sucks, but at least you have a shortcut to become a licensed solicitor ( NOT a barrister, that is a different but related thing altogether). You can find legal related work before you're licensed. In fact, on the old transfer scheme, you were required to have 2 yes of legal work experience in the UK to qualify.

I've chosen to do an LLM at Cardiff Uni first before I do the transfer scheme. It will help me make connections at least a bit and give me a little more credibility before I look for actual solicitor work, but I'm going to try and find something legal related while I'm studying as well.

Hey, nice to see another US lawyer on here. Hope it all goes well for you.

I first went to law school in the UK at the undergraduate level and then I immigrated to the US (I married a US citizen) and went to law school here (I am currently in the US). Then 3 years after passing the California bar exam and practicing I applied to take the QLTT as it was called back then. The requirement back then was that you be an admitted attorney with at least 2 years experience. I was able to sit for the QLTT in LA and I passed. I was admitted as a solicitor later that year. All of this without setting foot back in the UK.

Having said that, I've never been able to utilize these qualifications to actually obtain legal employment in the UK (or with UK law firms in the US). I think that may be largely because when I've applied I've been here in the US. Being on the ground really makes a difference. At least I hope so.

I would like to bring my family over to the UK in a year or two and spend maybe a few years there practicing law or something law related. I think the current immigration rules are unrealistic in assuming that professionals can obtain professional level jobs before they arrive in the UK. But they're designed to keep people out so go figure.

So at least you're there which I think makes a big difference. Keep us posted.

Thank you for the replies everyone!

I won't know my bar exam result until early November. But as I have the spouse visa in my hands now, I'd like to begin applying for jobs. I am thinking of applying for legal secretary positions at American firms in the meantime, but I am afraid they will just toss aside my application, as they might wonder why someone with a law degree is interested in being a legal secretary? But I would like to begin work as soon as possible after moving there... Have a lot of student loans to pay off!

You're right. Most firms won't hire law grads as legal secretaries. But they do hire law grads to work as "paralegals" for temporary short and long term projects. There's also document review. Try the big agencies in London like Michael Page etc. They'll all show up on Google.