Lawyer Salary in Saudi Arabia

Hi tahir22,

Welcome to expat-blog!

Hope you get some helpful advice about what you are looking for.

Regards,

David.

You could try applying on-line to a UK law firm that recruits new grad and/or Government Legal Service (GLS) or Crown Prosection Service. Try to obtain at least 3 years experience before working in Saudi.

Good luck

tahir22 wrote:

I am a Canadian currently in my final year of a Graduate LLB in the University of Wales, United Kingdom. I have previously completed a Bachelors with Honours in Economics from York University in Toronto, Canada. I also have roughly 3 years of work experience between two leading Canadian financial institutions.

I am planning on moving to Saudi Arabia after I graduate in May of 2014. Just have a some questions.

1) How should I go about applying for law firms in the United Kingdom?

2) How would I target firms that are based in North America?

3) What should be the average salary I should expect?

Thank You

You are planning on moving to KSA and all your questions are asking on how to get job some place else , are you in the right area of the forum ?

HRGuru wrote:

You are planning on moving to KSA and all your questions are asking on how to get job some place else , are you in the right area of the forum ?

I was thinking the same thing. 

Tahir22:

Your university should have a career services center that offers employment advice and helps applicants find law-related jobs in the UK. There's also the Internet for jobs sites in your field in the UK and North America.

Sorry. The question was worded incorrectly.

1) How should I go about applying for law firms in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

2) How would I target firms that are based in North America?

3) What should be the average salary I should expect?

Thank You

I am looking to work in Saudi Arabia after graduation and all questions are regarding getting a job as a Lawyer in Saudi.

Don't come to Saudi or any other country until you have at least 3 years post grad experience under your belt. It is about 'thinking smart' and best choices....that should be part of lapidary law, however it is not.

I agree with Suzan.  But anyway...  Do an Internet search on legal jobs saudi.

Most legal jobs are held by Nationals since you need to be a National in order to do litigation in a court of law here. So a job as "Lawyer" is very rare to come by for a non - national. The option is to look for / or get job as legal consultant / adviser for private companies. But I have to agree with Suzan - you need experience in order to come to KSA. Normally employers wont hire non-nationals unless you posses a certain skill set / experience that is not available in the local market (per say ) but this is especially true with fresh graduates.

HRGuru wrote:

Most legal jobs are held by Nationals since you need to be a National in order to do litigation in a court of law here. So a job as "Lawyer" is very rare to come by for a non - national. The option is to look for / or get job as legal consultant / adviser for private companies. But I have to agree with Suzan - you need experience in order to come to KSA. Normally employers wont hire non-nationals unless you posses a certain skill set / experience that is not available in the local market (per say ) but this is especially true with fresh graduates.

. Needless to mention : Arabic language. I don't think their law has minute acceptability for any language other than Arabic (exaggeration)

Hi Tahir 22,
HRGuru is right, non-Saudi's do not hold the title of lawyer.  However, non-Saudi's do work here in the legal profession, usually for western associated law firms. Some of the Saudi firms do take on western lawyers, but those I've met have had to leave for western firms in order to develop their legal practice.

He is also right in that litigation work is for Saudi nationals and you will need Arabic for that.  However, if you are looking at Corporate Commercial work with these firms then you do not have to be a Saudi national, nor do you have to know Arabic. You do, however, need experience. 

To find out about jobs in Saudi you can go through the usual channels, ie recruitment agency, and I'm sure your university can put you on track with a reputable company for overseas recruitment.  Or you can contact the law firms direct to ask questions about practice in Saudi.  Googling 'law firms in Saudi Arabia' brings up most of the larger western associated law firms on the first couple of pages.

Your other option for working in Saudi is as in-house council, however, once again you will require experience.

On a side note, if you do not intend to spend the larger part of your working legal life in the middle east, saudi may not be the best place to start your legal career. Not much of what you will learn here re:Sharia compliance, will be applicable should you intend to practice mostly outside the ME.  This is your future, think carefully about it.

Good to see you here nzpounamu. An avid reader of your blog.

Thanks HRGuru.