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Felix the Cat
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Medell�n
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 Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 10:17 am Post subject: What can a lawyer from the US do in Korea? |
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Hey all, it's been a long time. I went to law school after my hagweon daze, passed the bar, and am now practicing law in Minnesota. I miss being an expat. My student loan payments recently become more manageable (income-based repayment - I'll sell my children to Obama for that one), meaning I don't have an impossibly large nut to earn every month to break even.
I'm looking at teaching at a university in Colombia, but Korea is easy and familiar, so I'm playing with ideas. I'm not interested in working at a hagweon again. I have two years experience teaching (one in Korea), a JD, and active bar admission. I am presentable, 34 years old, and no criminal record (I heard they check that now in Korea).
What are some options? I wouldn't want to live anywhere but Seoul, or at a stretch, Busan. No satellite cities either. |
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crossmr
Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Location: Hwayangdong, Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 5:05 pm Post subject: |
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| If you don't know anything about Korean law.. maybe not that much. You might be able to get some work with a firm looking to do business in the US if you were a specialist in trade law or something like that. Even then, you would need to have 5 or 10 years experience to qualify as an "expert" for an E7 visa on non-english related jobs. |
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Felix the Cat
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Medell�n
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| Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 6:06 pm Post subject: |
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| crossmr wrote: |
| If you don't know anything about Korean law.. maybe not that much. You might be able to get some work with a firm looking to do business in the US if you were a specialist in trade law or something like that. Even then, you would need to have 5 or 10 years experience to qualify as an "expert" for an E7 visa on non-english related jobs. |
Nope, I don't know anything about Korean law. I have three years of experience in international trade and trade law - actually turned down a job in Ulsan, in-house for a large Korean company a couple of years ago.
I should clarify this: I have no illusions about actually practicing law in Korea, which would be an impossibility. I took the LSAT in Seoul, in 2002, at Kyonggi University. There were several hundred students taking the exam, and probably 98% of them were Korean. There has to be some prep center for the LSAT, or some sort of pre-law courses at a university in Seoul. Either that, or some kind of market for Korean lawyers who need to learn legal English. |
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crossmr
Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Location: Hwayangdong, Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 6:40 pm Post subject: |
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| it sounded like you didn't want to go back to a hagwon. But if you want to go back to a hagwon I'm sure you could find one that specializes in teaching Legal english. That is likely the only place you'd easily find work for that. Hagwon basically encompasses all kinds of private teaching gigs, so I didn't think you wanted to do that. |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 6:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Lot's of law firms are hiing legal consultants form overseas. Look into ones that specialize in your field. |
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crossmr
Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Location: Hwayangdong, Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 6:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Captain Corea wrote: |
| Lot's of law firms are hiing legal consultants form overseas. Look into ones that specialize in your field. |
Yes but other than the E7 visas for english villages, it seems that most fields require 5 to 10 years experience which it doesn't sound like he has.
Unless you think he could get a different visa. |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 7:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Not sure on the visa, but I've known many Americans who have come here and worked for lawfirms as 'consultants'. |
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cdninkorea
Joined: 27 Jan 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 7:19 pm Post subject: |
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| A few years ago I met a guy on a plane who was teaching American law at a university in the countryside near Busan. There must be opportunities at more Korean law schools to teach courses on American law. Why not contact some and find out? |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 7:42 pm Post subject: |
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I would consider applying at the Korean National Police University in Yong-in.
The boss used to be Park, Jin-sung (senior inspector - Academic affairs dividion) 031-284-5249
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http://www.police.ac.kr/
PS. not a bad place to work and there are other perks to be had as well.
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victorology
Joined: 10 Sep 2007
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| Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 7:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Captain Corea wrote: |
| Not sure on the visa, but I've known many Americans who have come here and worked for lawfirms as 'consultants'. |
I have a couple of friends who are American and are attorneys in Korea. It's definitely possible but since I am not in that line of work, I do not know how to go about it.
My cousin got a job offer at Kim & Chang (largest and most prestigious law firm in Korea) as a researcher for patents and he spoke absolutely no Korean. |
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Yaya
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 8:12 pm Post subject: |
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| victorology wrote: |
| Captain Corea wrote: |
| Not sure on the visa, but I've known many Americans who have come here and worked for lawfirms as 'consultants'. |
I have a couple of friends who are American and are attorneys in Korea. It's definitely possible but since I am not in that line of work, I do not know how to go about it.
My cousin got a job offer at Kim & Chang (largest and most prestigious law firm in Korea) as a researcher for patents and he spoke absolutely no Korean. |
But a firm like Kim and Chang will go for the best of the best, as in quality of the applicant's law school. The OP says he went to law school in MN, so I'm thinking Kim and Chang will probably pass on him. |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 10:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Keep in mind though - they can only be consultants here. |
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0ju
Joined: 30 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2010 1:11 am Post subject: |
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| Yaya wrote: |
But a firm like Kim and Chang will go for the best of the best, as in quality of the applicant's law school. The OP says he went to law school in MN, so I'm thinking Kim and Chang will probably pass on him. |
Uhh... the law school at University of Minnesota is ranked 20th in the nation... which as far as law schools go is pretty good  Besides, the OP never said where he went to school, just where he was practicing now.
OP, law schools in Korea DO hire American lawyers to teach American law courses in English (there was even an ad on Dave's ESL about it a few months ago). It will help that you have several years experience in the field. I would send your resume to different universities and ask if they have any job openings in the near future.
As for teaching the LSAT, I think prep hakwons will only want you if you scored pretty well on the test (like in the mid- to upper-90 percentile range)... not sure though. I know that's the case in the US but then again prep schools in the US have a lot more to choose from. |
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Felix the Cat
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Medell�n
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| Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2010 7:35 am Post subject: |
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My academic pedigree is pretty good (I know how obsessed Koreans are about this). Oju is correct about my law school, which is Tier One, and my LSAT score was 96th percentile. Law school grades are another thing entirely.
Thanks for the pointers. I think I'll go fishing at some law schools. Can any of you point me to some of them? |
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0ju
Joined: 30 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2010 7:50 am Post subject: |
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| Felix the Cat wrote: |
My academic pedigree is pretty good (I know how obsessed Koreans are about this). Oju is correct about my law school, which is Tier One, and my LSAT score was 96th percentile. Law school grades are another thing entirely.
Thanks for the pointers. I think I'll go fishing at some law schools. Can any of you point me to some of them? |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_school_in_South_Korea#List_of_Law_schools
Most are in Seoul, of course, but there are a few in other cities.
You might also try contacting The Princeton Review Korea to see if they offer LSAT test prep classes.
Good luck. |
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