I agree on the issue of experience and whether which country you come from. In general, lawyers from Europe have some advantage when compare to lawyers from other parts. However, I still confirm my point of view in general cases though. Nowadays, to get a permanent position in a US law firm is extremely difficult. Hiring is really based upon a case by case basis. Getting admitted to a top US law school may make us feel so pround and confident of our qualifications for a while. The real tough sittuation comes when we try so hard struggling to find a job after graduation. Even though a few of us would be happy in the end, most are end up with disappointment. In general, successfully getting a permanent position in top law firms in the US should be regarded as an exception rather than a general rule.

Tim is absolutely right. Don't ever do an LLM to have a permanent position in the US afterwards. Unless you're part of the 2-3% who find one, you're bound to be disappointed (I was saying that China might be an exception because it's a huge emerging market which obviously interests US firms)

Amen.
You are one of the few voices of reason on this board Sir.
There needs to be a general reality check here people!

>>We don't earn big bucks in Europe ;-)

Haha!
Well, that may be the fact for a lot of the European countries, but Norway is a wealthy country. Though my beginning salary wont be too high (approx $50 000) because we have to work 2 years to get our license, it will increase rather rapidly if you work with business law. Another thing is that living costs is pretty high in Norway, so those big bucks will be spent rather rapidly too ;)

You fail to take into account the confiscatory tax rates in the nordic countries..

ALSO Compensation is highest in the USA/UK..

Face it, the USA/UK are the places to make big bucks, continental europe lags far behind..

You fail to take into account all the benefits we get because of that tax. I have lived in the US and had to pay for a lot extra. And if you want to live in i.e. NYC, it is very expensive. Imagine, in Norway going to the university is free! Health care is almost free, 5 weeks of fully paid vacation, 9 months fully paid maternity leave... and the list goes on and on... At least we have the time to use our "big" bucks ;)

I wouldn't mind working in the US for a couple of years, but not because of the money. Rather for personal reasons.

I guess it's a tradeoff between money and lifestyle(Anglo/Nordic). But do You agree that it sucks to be a high income earner in the Nordic model? I mean because of the redistribution of wealth(socialism!), why not be a janitor? This is ofcourse an exaggeration, but You get my point;)

I am not socialist (at least in the Norweigan system), and I get your point. However, I do not agree with you. I feel like I absolutely get my tax money back, and not like I am spending it on those with lower incomes. It is not worthelss at all to get a highly paid job. Being a high earner plus getting all the benefits is great. I would not want to earn big bucks and then not have any vacation time to spend it on. And I know how much Americans work compared to Norwegians as my familiy is part American.

I guess this is one big political disucussion, and it's hard to understand each other b/c we are grown up believing in different philosophies. But I still believe making like $70 000 after a couple of years is big bucks, even with pretty high taxes. At least more than enough to do basically whatever you want to. So I guess that is why I don't really feel the need to secure a hot-shot job in the US.

cheer! :-)

As you mentioned, Duke is making utmost efforts, not only to attract strong candidate but also to make them happy and assist them in getting where they want. At the time, I had offers from 5 leading law school, but Duke was the only one that made me feel like they really wanted me to come, and when I arrived here I realized that they actually DID want me to come and were prepared to make the necessary efforts. In terms of jobs - I already have one good offer in NYC and more are hopefully forthcoming. Many of my coursemates have also done very well in their job search. Fell free to contact me if I can be of further assistance.