Careers
Careers in Transit: What it is like for attorneys to dwell overseas
July 30, 2025, 1:57 pm CDT
Heather Bustos, managing companion of the Bustos Regulation Group within the Woodlands, Texas, moved to Valencia, Spain, in July 2024, shortly after Spain opened its digital nomad visa, which permits foreigners to dwell in Spain whereas working for a world firm. (Picture by Christopher Bustos)
Heather Clauson Haughian spent years constructing her authorized follow in Destin, Florida, however when her husband’s job as an Air Power particular operations pilot took them to England, she discovered herself at a crossroads. She may begin over, shift fields or go away the legislation behind fully.
Haughian, who efficiently tackled cultural and authorized shifts to maneuver overseas, displays a rising development amongst Individuals in search of alternatives abroad amid political uncertainty.
Whereas U.S. residents aren’t required to register their presence overseas, making it tough to assemble statistics on this, a Monmouth College ballot discovered that as of 2024, 34% of Individuals stated they might transfer overseas if they may afford it. That is fairly a change from the ten% of Individuals who wished to maneuver overseas 50 years in the past, in accordance with the Gallup Group. Based on the U.S. State Division, about 9 million Individuals are presently residing overseas.
For attorneys, the transfer overseas could be tough, relying on whether or not you’re planning on nonetheless practising U.S. legislation abroad or whether or not you’d wish to get admitted in a brand new nation so you possibly can follow that nation’s legislation.
Haughian moved to Cambridge in 2004, and she or he determined to take the Solicitors Qualifying Examination, which is the UK’s equal of the bar examination (which she had already handed in america).
“Passing the SQE meant I may qualify as a solicitor in England and Wales and work for a British legislation agency, reasonably than being restricted to a U.S. agency with a U.Ok. workplace,” says Haughian, who rapidly landed a place with Eversheds earlier than its merger with Sutherland in its Cambridge workplace.
Whereas the transition was legally and technically very easy—she didn’t must undergo the visa software course of since she was a army partner beneath the Standing of Forces Settlement—Haughian did have to right away alter to cultural variations. Coming from a conventional legislation agency in Atlanta the place skirt fits had been the norm, Haughian wished to substantiate the gown code at her new agency. She emailed her soon-to-be boss to ask if ladies had been allowed to put on pants within the workplace.
“What I didn’t understand on the time was that in British English, ‘pants’ means underwear,” she says. “His witty reply: ‘Whereas they don’t seem to be required, pants are extremely inspired.’”
She rapidly made the adjustment to British English and was comfortable to study concerning the English way of life.
The authorized profession construction and method to billable hours in England is totally different from that in america. On the solicitor stage, the annual billable goal was simply 1,350 hours—a stark distinction to the two,000-plus hour necessities usually anticipated at U.S. companies. Upon turning into an affiliate, the billable hour goal elevated to 1,500 hours, which Haughian says remains to be a welcome reduction in comparison with the calls for of American companies.
One other refreshing change: the holiday tradition. At her agency, each legal professional was anticipated to take their full 4 weeks of trip, and companies strongly inspired taking at the very least two consecutive weeks to totally disconnect.
“In contrast to in lots of U.S. companies, the place attorneys usually really feel responsible for stepping away from work, British companies genuinely prioritized work-life steadiness,” Haughian says.
Others have related emotions. Heather Bustos, managing companion of the Bustos Regulation Group within the Woodlands, Texas, moved to Valencia, Spain, in July 2024, shortly after Spain opened its digital nomad visa (this enables foreigners to dwell in Spain whereas working for a world firm).
It took six months of planning, which included downsizing, placing belongings in storage and promoting the vehicles as she and her husband ready to maneuver with their two kids. It took loads of effort to assemble paperwork for the visa course of, however since she is beneath a digital nomad visa that doesn’t permit her to supply authorized work immediately from a Spanish firm, it was comparatively simple to acquire. She additionally needed to get a pet passport.
One factor that made the method a lot easier, nonetheless, was persevering with to work for a U.S.-based legislation agency topic to U.S. guidelines, so there have been no authorized hoops when it comes to her legal professional position.
Whereas the transfer went very easily, a giant problem Bustos confronted was the time distinction, particularly when it got here to her California purchasers who had been simply waking when she was winding down the day.
Nonetheless, she says, “I want I had executed it sooner. You probably have the choice to work remotely in a rustic with a slower tempo of life, it makes your job as an legal professional a lot much less tense.”
Life-changing alternative
One thing that makes life much less tense? Stewart Patton, a world tax legal professional, discovered the reply to be “Belize.”
He moved there from Chicago in 2013 as a result of he was uninterested in the BigLaw way of life. Patton was a companion at Kirkland & Ellis, and earlier than he moved, he hardly ever noticed his household on weekdays.So, he determined to open his personal follow.
The toughest half was the forms, says Patton, who opted to not turn out to be a member of the bar in Belize, as he doesn’t follow Belize legislation. He did get caught in a loop the place he wanted to get a piece allow to start out working—however getting a piece allow required him to register for earnings tax. To do this, he wanted to get a commerce license, however he may solely get a commerce license if he had a piece allow.
“By some means, a kind of workplaces lastly determined to let me via,” he says. “All in all, Belize makes it fairly simple to maneuver right here.”
At the moment, life is nice for Patton. He makes his personal schedule, so he will get to see his household day by day. He additionally has his personal agency and his personal purchasers, so he could be extra artistic with the follow. He discovered that it’s a lot simpler to do flat-fee work and different strategies that don’t match the BigLaw mannequin.
The convenience of life and the authorized transformation may be very totally different relying on the place you land, nonetheless. Dee Dee Fischer, who beforehand labored for Sidley Austin in Miami and is now working as a companion for a similar agency in Singapore since 2023, struggled with practice-related challenges.
U.S. litigators can’t seem in Singaporean courts, she says. Plus, her caseload included instances from america and from Asia, however with a 13-hour time distinction, she’s had her fair proportion of early-morning calls and late-night Zoom conferences.
Her schedule has modified too. In america, she had been doing loads of class motion work, together with her days revolving round movement follow and depositions. In Singapore, she focuses on counsel: addressing questions on potential disputes and learn how to keep away from them, reasonably than truly litigating instances which have been filed.
“Shoppers on this area appear to me to be much more avoidant of litigation or arbitration than U.S. purchasers are,” says Fischer. “And it’s been necessary for me to be delicate to that, and their need to keep away from the prices and disruption of authorized battle.”
Rebuilding an expert community out of the country will also be tough, as Tristan Bramble found when he relocated to London in 2018 by way of a heritage passport, which affords citizenship by ancestry. However after becoming a member of the group American-Certified Legal professionals in London—he’s now on the steering committee—he rapidly tailored.
Attorneys interviewed for the story usually agree that attorneys ought to go overseas if ever given the possibility.
“It has been completely life-changing, and one of the crucial significant issues I’ve executed in my profession,” Fischer says. “Should you get the chance, do it.”
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