International law is a blanket term that covers nearly every legal transaction that requires review of both U.S. and foreign laws, court decisions and regulations. International law deals with situations as diverse as treaties between countries drafted by diplomats, to patents filed on U.S. products with both the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and foreign patent offices. Because the international law specialty includes so many different sub-specialties, careers in this field are very diverse.
All students planning to become international lawyers must obtain a bachelor's degree, complete a three-year law school doctoral program, pass a state bar examination and be licensed to practice in at least one state. They can take law school classes in international law. Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service recommends that they learn one or more foreign languages, such as German, Japanese, French, Spanish or Russian. Law school students can seek international law internships with U.S. and foreign law firms and other international organizations.
Post-Law School Training
After finishing law school, aspiring international attorneys may enter a one-year master of laws degree program in international law or a one- or two-year master of arts or master of science international relations degree program. A Loyola University paper, "Careers in International Law," suggests that students specialize in a second field in addition to international law, either while they are in law school or through entry into a master of laws degree program after law school. Specializing in a second field may widen their opportunities to find work in international law through handling transactions with foreign clients in their second field.
International lawyers typically work for law firms, the federal government, corporations, nonprofit groups and international organizations. The American Bar Association's Section of International Law 2012 survey found that more than 50 percent of its members are lawyers in private practice, working primarily in business law, litigation and intellectual property. Approximately 12 percent of its other members are U.S. corporate lawyers, 3 percent are U.S. government lawyers and 4 percent are U.S. academics.
Entry-level attorney jobs were dramatically reduced by the economic recession that started in 2008, a situation that persisted in 2012. Competition for international law jobs is intense -- more than 10,000 members of the ABA Section on International Law are student members as of 2013. Because international lawyers work in so many different sub-specialties, salaries and job openings vary widely. For example, the U.S. Department of Justice sometimes hires lawyers interested in international law. As of 2012, a junior lawyer with a post-law school master's degree hired by the DOJ's Washington, DC headquarters would be paid an annual salary of $74,872. In 2011, an entry-level attorney joining a legal office within a corporation was paid an average yearly salary of $117,500, according to a survey by the Association of Corporate Counsel. Students seeking international law jobs are advised to review the job openings and salaries available in sub-specialties they find interesting to obtain an accurate picture of their career prospects.
- U.S. Department of Justice: Entry-Level Attorneys
- Union County College: International Law
- American Bar Association: Section of International Law -- LL.M. International Law Programs
- University of Houston: Finding a Job in International Law
- Association of Corporate Counsel: The 2011 In House Counsel Compensation Survey
- American Bar Association: Section of International Law -- Internships
- American Bar Association: Section of International Law -- About Us -- Section Profile 2012
- Loyola University: Chicago School of Law -- Careers in International Law
- Georgetown University: International Law
- American Society of International Law: Overview
- The New York Times: An Existential Crisis for Law Schools
- Harris and Moure: International Corporate Law
- Comstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images