Legal jobs abroad
Career as a Commercial Contract Manager:
What kind of skills and abilities do you need to have as a Commercial Contract Manager?
Nov 4, 2011
How does a Contract Manager's day look like?
S/he has many tasks in connection with negotiating and reaching agrements,
forming contracts, negotiating disputes, and administrative tasks,
of course. Let's see some problems s/he may encounter.
Tovább...
(From Optimus BT.com)
A list of contract management skills you should have to fulfil the requirements include the followings:
- negotiation;
- communication;
- analyse and manage risk;
- understand business objectives;
- contract management;
- problem solving;
- commercial awareness;
- think logically;
- manage relationships;
- influence others;
- analytical;
- manage conflict;
- take a broad perspective/think laterally;
- collaborate;
- work in cross-functional teams; and
- draft contracts.
You may practice them in the legal English lessons:
At Intermediate level 
At Advanced level
Career as a lawyer in Vienna:
What kind of responsibilities would you have as a Commercial Contract Manager in Vienna?
Oct 19, 2011
According to a recent job advertisement on LinkedIn (19/10/2011) for a position
of a so-called 'Commercial contract manager' in a large Telecoms company
the right candidate's key responsibilities would be mainly connected
with agreements and dispute resolution techniques. You may find a chart
below which summarizes the tasks and includes some suggestions how to fulfil the requirements mentioned.
Tovább...
| Key responsibilities |
Knowledge and skills needed |
| Provide guidance and assistance on interpretation of contractual clauses and obligations as required by the business. |
You need to have a thorough knowledge in Contract law and Business law, and in interpreting clauses of a contract, both orally and in writing. |
| Key commercial interface with customers on complex agreements, ensuring compliance to contract terms and conditions. |
You need to have experience in dealing with clients. In order to master it you should conduct lawyer-client interviews, and write substantial amount of formal letters. |
| Management and reporting of compliance to contract and commercial milestones. |
You should have contract management skills and know the contracting and procurement processes, from requisition to contract enforcement. |
| Maintain knowledge of service level reporting, provide internal guidance on mitigation claims. Maintain knowledge of operational issues which could result in commercial disputes, advise operational teams on commercial risk mitigation strategies. |
You should know how to renew and negotiate contracts in a faster way. You have to handle parties' interests and goals by using effective negotiation techniques (f.e. the Harvard-method and 'best practices'). |
| Negotiate and resolve commercial disputes and settlements relating to the contracted scope. |
You should strengthen your negotiating skills for the private, public or government sector through a more thorough understanding of the contracting process. You should be aware of different reasoning strategies and alternative dispute resolution techniques (negotiation, mediation, arbitration). |
| Assist staff at all levels in the development and presentation of both new business opportunities to Customers and internal cost saving opportunities for the company. |
You need to have experience in contacting collegaues as well: how to contact them, you need to know how to be a 'great presenter', by revealing your weak points and improving your skills. |
A list of fields of laws you should study to fulfil the requirements and be experienced in the skills listed above:
(On the basis of an advertisement on LinkedIn)
Career as a lawyer in London:
How to earn a salary amounting to £60,000 - £70,000 + benefits as an Agreements Manager in London
23 Sept 2011
Skills and qualities you need and how to have them all
I have read a new job advertisement on LinkedIn (23/ 09/ 2011) for a position of a so-called
'Agreements Manager' (a synonym for commercial contract manager).
This position is for lawyers who deal with commercial contracts (in this specific
case contract management on public sector infrastructure projects). What could be
interesting for a lawyer or law student who is considering to work in Great Britain
as a lawyer is that what Tovább...
skills and qualities the companies are looking for in a position of this kind. In other words, what should a lawyer have to get such a job with a high salary.
The advertisement says that the candidate needs to be
- a skilled communicator with effective influencing and negotiation skills.
- should be comfortable working across organisational boundaries and hierarchies,
- and is a strategic thinker with an organised yet flexible approach, which enables he or she to plan for and adapt to changing circumstances.
How to be such a candidate? A good way to be a professional in everything is to know it and practise it a lot.
Let's look at the requirements step by step:
- How to be 'a skilled communicator (in English) with effective influencing and negotiation skills'?
You have to know the negotiation techniques at basic and advanced level, and try to use it professionally. The best way to reach this level is by practising it in an environment which is friendly, but has a schedule to reach your goal. It should be organised but must give you space to try yourself. It could be a legal English lesson where you have the opportunity to learn the phrases of effective communication and negotiation, and perfect your skills by using it with other lawyers.
- What do they mean by 'being comfortable working across organisational boundaries and hierarchies'?
They need a lawyer who is not only experienced in contract management and drafting contracts, but also good at handling different people to reach the goals of the company. It is something what you can learn only by talking to people in English in such a way that they should be willing to be aware of your ideas and initatives, irrespetive of working for a company, for a non-profit organization or for the state. As a result, they will look at you as someone whose words are worth considering. That is why you must know the little differences and nuances in the language of negotiation, business and legal English.
- How to become 'a strategic thinker with an organised yet flexible approach, which enables he or she to plan for and adapt to changing circumstances'?
We speak a lot in our legal English lessons, conducting lawyer – client interviews and pretending to
negotiate a case involving a breach of contract, a tort, or a dispute between companies,
to name but a few. So you have to prepare for the legal English lesson f.e. by considering
the case, drafting a checklist for yourself, but as we are 3 or 4 lawyers together,
you have to react to the point of view of another, and accommodate yourself to the
situation we are hypothetically in. You will be succesful in a situation reaching a settlement,
on the one hand if you know the strengths and weaknesses of your standpoint / your case,
because you are well-prepared, on the other hand if you are flexible enough to compromise
and are able to turn the situation in your advantage.
If you would like to be better at communication in legal English,
practising how to be an effective influencing negotiator in English,
being able to use contractual terms easily, you should have a place
in the legal English lessons. There are only 2 or 3 lawyers or law
students in one class, and we take a practical approach to learning legal English,
so you have the opportunity to practise what you learn by speaking, advising,
negotiating, arguing and compromising.
(On the basis of an advertisment from LinkedIn)
Career as a lawyer in Dubai:
What do I need to be a practising lawyer in Dubai?
8 July 2011
If you are considering to work in Dubai as a lawyer you are allowed to provide
legal services unless you are licensed by the Government of Dubai Legal Affairs Department.
Tovább...
A resolution approved in July 2011 requires lawyers working in Dubai to be licensed by the
Government for the first time. Previous law required only firms to register with the Government,
not individual lawyers. There were no set standards for training or qualifications that
allow a lawyer to provide legal services. The resolution, which goes into effect on
August 26, does not address standards for registered lawyers, but directs the director
general of the Dubai Legal Affairs Department to issue "bylaws and instructions necessary
for the implementation of this resolution". The licences must be renewed each year.
And the sanctions are: firms must pay Dh3,000 (US$816) for each advocate or "legal consultant"
on staff, plus Dh2,000 to register each lawyer. Anyone found providing legal services without
a licence is subject to a Dh50,000 fine. Anyone failing to renew their licence will face
fines of Dh1,000 a day, with a maximum of Dh15,000 in the first month.
What is the best way 'to circumvent' this rule? If you are a lawyer with international
firms you may be required to maintain membership in the firm's home bar associations
or at least have had some level of education, but only your firm need to be registered.
(On the basis of 'The National', the magazine of Abu Dhabi Media)
Career as a lawyer-linguist in the EU:
How to be a lawyer-linguist in the institutions of the EU and earn a really good salary? - New open competitions for lawyer-linguists (AD 7)
18 May 2011
The European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) is organising open competitions,
based on qualifications and tests, to establish a reserve pool from which
to recruit lawyer-linguists (*) (AD 7). The purpose of these competitions
is to draw up reserve lists from which to fill vacant posts in the institutions of the European Union.
Tovább...
General conditions: You must be a citizen of one of the Member States of the European Union.
(b) You must enjoy your full rights as a citizen.
(c) You must have fulfilled any obligations imposed on you by the laws on military service.
(d) You must meet the character requirements for the duties involved.
You have to pass thecomputer-based preliminary test with the highest mark,
then you will be assessed during a one-and-half day session, including a verbal
reasoning test, a numerical reasoning test and an abstract reasoning test.
You can prepare by making the exercises from the previous year's tests,
and using the LSAT prep tests (The Law School Admission Test). Of course,
you need to prove that you are able to translate legal text into the language
of the competititon without dictionary. Nevertheless, you need to prove your
communication skills on the basis of a structured interview and a group exercise.
If you will be chosen for the posititon of a lawyer–linguist, you will be placed
on the reserve list from which the institutions of the EU recruit lawyer-linguists in a year or so.
(On the basis of the official website of the EU)
