Are you a graduate of Law School… aiming at becoming an International Lawyer?

Now that you have accomplished your studies, did you ever think what it would take you to become an International Lawyer? Ms. Hala Riad, international lawyer in Kosheri, Rashed & Riad law firm, answers this question and backs it up with her own experience.

In Egypt, whether you graduated from the Arabic, French or English section of Law School, you have to go through a particular procedure to first become a lawyer and then an International lawyer.

After graduation:

This procedure would go as follows: after your four-years studies, you should usually start by working in a law firm where you are trained for two years for a minimum salary. From there on you will start working as a lawyer for a number of years. Then comes your role as a lawyer in front of the court of appeal. This procedure is valid if you are not going to take the step of acquiring LLM (or masters in law).

The previous steps prepare you to move to the International level. You cannot become an International Lawyer unless have a base first and a sense of the law in your country.

Masters:

However, becoming an International lawyer also requires acquiring LLM to learn other law systems. LLM will help you be exposed to the laws of other countries and will open your horizon to the different systems and how to apply them to your country.

A real Egyptian international lawyer for instance has to know three law systems: The Egyptian system, which is the base of his/her country, then the French one, which represents the European system, and finally one Anglo-Saxon system (the American is the most common).

A close up:

A focus on Riad’s long way in law will help newly graduates to understand the necessary steps to become an International lawyer in Egypt. During her four-years of studies, Riad worked as a summer associate in law firms in Cairo and London. This is in addition to other courses taken in George Town University (Washington) and the Academy of international law in The Hague (Netherlands). Once received her Law degree in Egypt, Riad spent almost two years in the Université de Bourgogne in France, which allowed her to get the DEA (Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies). Followed were another couple of years in the Yale University (New Haven) in the United States to take LLM, which gave her a chance to be exposed to another country and learn its law system.

Now comes the time for work, studies- courses and masters are accomplished with high satisfactory. Back to Egypt, Riad worked for two years; proving herself in her country allowed her to work as an associate lawyer in New York. She points out that the base she gained in Egypt is what allowed her to work abroad as she had to know first very well the Egyptian laws to be able to move to the other law systems.

Riad is currently an international lawyer in Kosheri, Rashed & Riad law firm and a registered lawyer in Egypt and New York. However, she only works in her capacity as an Egyptian lawyer. She works on deals and contract cases that go to court or go to arbitration; through her she deals with a number of foreign companies and countries.