Finding the Right Lawyer for the Job Overseas

• Author: Raquel A. Rodriguez
• Pages: 3-16

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Selecting foreign counsel is challenging. Selecting foreign counsel for litigation

proceedings abro ad is doubly challenging.

In addition to finding a competent lawyer, it is important to find one who is

known and res pected in the tribuna ls where the case will be t ried and who has all

the necessary character istics for gett ing the job done. This is a tall order even

when you are dealing in your own jurisdiction. Add to this picture selecting a

lawyer in a system or country you know little about, and the challenge has just

multipl ied severalfold.

HGATHERING BASIC INFORMATION

Step one is to learn someth ing about the foreign juris diction. Is it a common law

or civil law jur isdiction? If it is one of the Commonwealt h jurisdictions, wi ll you

need both a solicitor and a bar rister, or wil l one lawyer do? In jurisdictions t hat

distinguish bet ween solicitors and barristers, other considerations may come

into play. Solicitors’ rights of audience in court are rest ricted (although in Eng-

land and Wales many of the strict divisions have been removed). Additional ly,

you may not be able to instruct a ba rrister direct ly and may instead have to retain

a solicitor for that pur pose. In England, for example, foreig n lawyers can conduct

litigation on ly through solicitors, who in tu rn instruct bar risters. Therefore, you

may need both a barrister and a solicitor, which adds an additional expense and

* The author th anks David Axe lman, associate at McD onald Hopkins LLC, for h is

invaluable assi stance in the updati ng of this chapter.

. T B C, I   B , http://www.barcouncil.org.uk /instr ucting

-a-barri ster/ (last visited Jan. 3, 204).

CHAPTER 1

Finding the Right Lawyer for the

Job Overseas

Raquel A. Rodriguez*

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