Careers in International Law
that have little or no relation to New York State —to be brought in New York courts and to be construed under the New York law, so long as there are provisions in the contract providing for that. There are possible constitutional limitations upon said law, but in practice, many firms keep putting New York law as the law under which many international commercial contracts are to be construed.
Second, it is believed by many that court sys- tems in some countries may be corrupt. Often, both the U.S. side and a foreign side therefore prefer to rely on a U.S. state’s law, such as New York law, and on a U.S. state’s court, such as a New York court, to resolve any possible future dispute, rather than to rely on a foreign law that may change very unpredictably, or on a court system that, for example, is notorious for its backlogs and questionable judgments.
Thus, while not all international lawyers will need to do this, if you would like to work with inter- national commercial contracts, especially in the U..S., knowing New York contract law and being admitted to the New York Bar may be helpful.
Job Interview Tips Fit In, Stand Out
With respect to job interview tips, “Fit In, Stand Out” is one with which many interviewers agree. Basically, “Fit In” means that you should be someone with whom the interviewer will be comfortable interacting on daily basis, going to lunch, or asking for favors. For example, walk- ing into your office around 6:45 p.m. on a Friday evening and asking you to draft a simple share purchase agreement so that she has something with her when she leaves for a meeting the fol- lowing morning. That is “Fit In.”
“Stand Out” is about what you can bring to the table that is relevant and more valuable than what other candidates have to offer. Did you grow up in Europe and speak several languages? Did you
live in China for a year and happen to know how the manufacturing arrangements work? Did you write an article about recent trends in directors’ and officers’ liability? Do you have an award from LexisNexis for the most accurate research? Tell your story, give concrete examples.
The deal is this: if you are invited to an inter- view, chances are that you are as qualified for the job as the person being interviewed right af- ter you or right before you. The interviewer sees your school, your grades, your journal experi- ence, your community service, etc. What your interviewer needs to hear is a good short story about a particular strength or skill that justifies choosing you and not the next person who walks in. You need to give your interviewer a reason to stop interviewing others (or at least to men- tally choose you and stop paying close attention to the other candidates). In other words, make his job easy and give him a reason to say to others at a firm, “Well, all of those candidates were good, but we should probably hire [in- sert your name] as he/she has this skill/experi- ence/background that will add value, and s/he seems like s/he would really fit in with our office culture.”
It is Fine to Admit that You Do Not Know Something
At an interview, it is perfectly fine to admit that you do not know something. Your interviewer knows that you just spend three or more years in law school reading cases, editing articles, and organizing events, i.e. that you were busy. So if you do not know something, say so. But, you must quickly add that you learn fast (assuming that this is true), and give an example of a situ- ation where you had to learn something quickly, how you became better at it than others and in a shorter period of time (again, assuming that this is true). Prepare that story and use it right after you have to admit that you do not know something. This gives you a chance to turn a weakness into a strength (ability to adapt and to
ILSA Quarterly » volume 20 » issue 1 » October 2011
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