Where/how would a lawyer find work in Israel?

amother

Hawthorn

Sat, Apr 27 2024, 10:24 pm

my husband is a lawyer and we've seriously considered aliyah and he's looked into the israeli legal situation extensively. we've ruled aliyah out for now because the financial situation doesn't work for us.

the short answer to your question is that it's impossible to answer your question unless you explain more about his practice.

you say he has his a law practice... does that mean he's a solo? runs a small firm? without knowing the nature of his practice, it's impossible to know whether he'll be able to maintain his practice in israel, I.e., getting clients, maintaining clients, etc. with a 7 hour time difference and 5000 miles away.

if he can't maintain his current practice, he'll need to find some other way to earn a living as a lawyer. there are various options, and it's very hard to find a great option. the best possible outcome is to earn US money and maintain a US legal practice while still living in israel, but that may or may not work for his practice.

israel has tons of american olim lawyers who want to earn US money, and are struggling to do so. "just do go work for an american law firm in israel" is much easier said than done -- you need the right credentials and need a large book of business to get hired by the few large american law firms with offices in tel aviv.

israeli law firms pay garbage compared to US firms, and will most likely require the israeli bar -- which is a major, major obstacle and requires really great hebrew and extensive studying. and unless your practice is transferrable to their practice, you'll probably have to start from the bottom.

some american olim basically do independent contract work for american law firms who are happy to pay poor hourly rates to a guy living in israel because they know he's willing to work for less money than someone in ny because the cost of living is supposedly lower.

sorry to paint gloomy picture of this, but life appears to be tough as american oleh lawyer. if you're serious about aliyah, don't listen to me or anyone else on the internet -- your husband should network with american olim lawyers in his practice area and hear these kinds of things for himself. my husband networked with a lot of people and educated himself on what the situation is, and people were willing to be honest about it.

essie14

Sun, Apr 28 2024, 12:24 am

Hawthorn, I'm so sorry.
OP, neither I nor my husband is a lawyer but we do have some friends and acquaintances who are lawyers and work in Israel. I don't know a lot of details, but definitely reach out to NBN and as hawthorn said, network with lawyers in Israel.
Linked in is a great resource as well.
I'm sure there is a group for English speaking lawyers in Israel.

I don't know any specifics but we know a lot of people who have made it work out. Depending on your husband's expertise and situation, he can definitely take a stab at it.
If you're paying tuition in America and getting a comparable salary in Israel, you can come out way ahead here. We know several lawyers who have that situation.

amother

Hawthorn

Tue, Apr 30 2024, 9:50 pm

kermit wrote:

yes he has his own small practice in Brooklyn, with just 1 other partner and a secretary. he makes "ok" money, low 6 figures, we are firmly middle class. I don't think he'd have people to cover for him.

is his practice paperwork / transactional? or litigation? if litigation, does he routinely go to court / depositions / mediations?

is he or his partner generating the clients, or both? where are the clients coming from -- in person? referrals? online leads? do the clients require meeting in person?

all things he needs to think about in determining if he could maintain any semblance of his current practice while living 7 time zones and a $3000 flight away. some lawyers have practices where they could pull it off. most probably don't, and will have to retool in some way.

Quote:

will look into the Israeli bar!

in addition to what I already said, this is certainly a better option for a younger guy than an older guy. if he's in his late 20s / early 30s and only a few years out of law school, it's easier to start over at the bottom and be a junior lawyer at an israeli law firm. for a guy who is mid-career, it's much harder and a much bigger step down.