An international lawyer is a type of attorney who specializes in cases where more than one nation’s laws are involved. The job has varying applications and international lawyers can be found working both privately for companies, as well as for various attorney firms. The job encompasses a wide variety of cases, and can even include the duties of an immigration lawyer – but most commonly, international lawyers deal with criminal and civil cases that span over several jurisdictions, and thus require the intervention of an international lawyer.
Becoming an international lawyer is usually more difficult than becoming a regular attorney, as one would have to become familiar with a wide range of laws and specific rulesets in order to be efficient at the job. There’s no set requirement on how many jurisdictions an international lawyer has to be familiar with in order to operate, but the general consensus is that the more different laws one’s familiar with, the better their employment prospects would be.
As an international lawyer, one’s earning potential is quite good – with an average annual salary of between $110,000 – $131,000, international lawyers tend to earn just as much as most other high-profile attorneys, and are able to secure a steady stream of cases most of the time. Additionally, many personal accounts report the job to be a very interesting one, involving various complicated and intricated cases that can be resolved in creative ways. It’s more common for international lawyers to work for companies as opposed to on their own.