[Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting--sponsor of the Asia Chronicles, and an ATL advertiser. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past two years. You can reach them by email: asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com.]

Evan here, writing from Hong Kong, where we just made two more US associate placements last week and expect another one this week. I just arrived back in Hong Kong late last night, after a family holiday in Bali, and planned to return to US today, but a couple of pending partner level placements in Asia by our team has caused a stay in Hong Kong for another 10 days. Robert is heading back here on Friday. Before Bali, Robert and / or I had been in Tokyo and Hong Kong all of November, for the usual meetings with firms and candidates. Actually, you can catch a photo during my last week in Hong Kong in Sunday's NY Times: Lawyers Wanted, Abroad That Is

As Robert explained in yesterday's post, I was unable to post Monday as I had planned. A client is in our HK apartment this week, so while I was in route from Bali yesterday, I relied on admin to get a HK hotel and things did not work out too well with that. Today, I am back in normal hotel digs and am back up and running, with internet and all. Last week we discussed expat allowances in Asia and Middle East. This week we deal with basic expat tax issues. The next post will be on additional expat allowances for associates with children, something firms ask me for advice on routinely.

As always, please feel free to ask any questions in the comments area. Please note that I am writing off the top of my head and am not preparing a tax memo for you (as I would in my days as a biglaw tax associate years ago), so also please feel free to give more details and correct me where need be in the comments area. It would be great for US associates in Asia, Russia and Middle East to join the discussion, as you have experiences filing such taxes after all. This is very basic information, so let's feel free to get into more detail in the comments.

You probably are well aware and recall from Federal Income Tax back in law school, US citizens and green card holders (both groups, combined, referred to as "US persons") are liable for US income taxes while abroad, although with a credit given for any income taxes paid to the foreign jurisdiction they are residing. However, US persons do not have US tax liability on their first $87,600 earned abroad (this is the number for 2008, but rises a little bit each year it seems). Of course, this advantage is nullified if the jurisdiction you are working in has higher income tax rates than the US.

More after the jump

Everybody deserves a competent legal defense, including Big Tobacco. And everybody who wants to work should be able to work. This week's Job of the Week looks like a "match." As always, the Job of the Week is brought to you by Lateral Link. This position is one of over 1,000 active openings available on Lateral Link. Because of Lateral Link's outstanding reputation with legal recruiters, Lateral Link members have a significant advantage when seeking a new position. In fact there are over 60 Lateral Link members currently interviewing for positions or with offers outstanding. Membership in Lateral Link is free and you can apply at www.laterallink.com.

Position: Litigation Counsel

Location: Winston-Salem, NC

Description: A top tobacco company is seeking an In House Litigation Counsel to join their Legal team in Winston-Salem, NC. The Litigation Counsel assists in the management of the corporation's defense of complex litigation - including the development and management of annual budgets. The company is seeking an attorney with 5-7 years of experience and demonstrated expertise in management
of complex litigation The candidate should have strong in-house litigation experience (i.e., management of outside counsel) and in-house experience in the development of and meeting departmental budgets.

For more information about this position or to apply, please see Position 10114 on Lateral Link. Current members can also contact their personal search consultant directly to discuss this position.

[Ed. note: This post is authored by Ash Kalb and Dawn Robertson of Cypress Recruiting -- an ATL advertiser. Cypress is the first and only US-based legal recruiting firm to specialize exclusively on law firm and in-house placements in the Asia and Middle East legal markets. You can reach them by email: atl(-at-)cypressrecruiting.com.]

An article published in this past Sunday's New York Times is causing a a bit of buzz in the recruiting industry and amongst lawyers. The gist is simple: go abroad, young man (or woman). That's where the work is.

Of course, this is not really news. We've know it for years: as the domestic legal market continues to underperform (or implode in slow motion, take your pick), the logical destination for the best and brightest legal talent is those markets that are still vibrant and growing, or at the very least not on the verge of imminent failure.

Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong (not to mention Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, Doha, Riyadh and a host of other cities) may seem far-flung to the Times, but not to Cypress. For nearly eight years, Cypress Recruiting has been placing attorneys in in Asia, and more recently, in the Middle East. In fact, Cypress was the first U.S. firm to focus on these markets, and is still the only one that focuses on them exclusively; these markets are all we do.

As the Times notes, the credit crunch has resulted in a flood of applicants who might never before have considered looking abroad for the next stage of their career approaching the top offices in the Middle East and Asia. As the volume of applications these offices see goes up, their standards follow as a matter of course. This means that while these markets continue to represent some of the best opportunities out there for attorrneys, it is getting harder and harder for an applicant, no matter how qualified or distinguished, to get in the door.

More after the jump.

[Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting--sponsor of the Asia Chronicles, and an ATL advertiser. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past two years. You can reach them by email: asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com.]

Robert here. Evan had intended to follow up on his article from last week regarding expat packages, but he's stuck in a hotel in Hong Kong that our travel people chose, called the Garden View, which has a great location on MacDonnell Road but nothing else to recommend it. Not only is the internet down, but the toilet was not even flushed when Evan arrived. Once he's flushed and reconnected, we'll get the expat discussion back up on the web...

In the mean time, for this edition of the Asia Chronicles, we'd like to point any of you who do not read the Sunday New York Times to the following article, which discusses our work in Asia--"Lawyer Wanted: Abroad, That Is." Kinney Recruiting moved heavily into working in Asia three years ago and, at least from the tenor of this article, we're doing a good job.

I think we're a little different from a lot of recruiting firms. Our focus is on serving the candidates, who are the readers of this column, by knowing as much as we can possibly know about the markets we cover and sharing as much as we can possibly share with the people who consider the jobs on offer. We don't make every placement in Asia or our other major market, Texas, but we make a lot of them. If we can't get you a job we'll still talk to you (or at least email - volume of calls has gotten pretty high) and try to assist in any way we can.

So read the New York Times article, contact us at asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com, and look forward to a continuation of the expat packages article on Wednesday.

Layoffs make people feel powerless, but this week's Job of the Week will make you feel powerful. And helping to save the planet comes as a fringe benefit. As always, the Job of the Week is brought to you by Lateral Link. This position is one of over 1,000 active openings available on Lateral Link. Because of Lateral Link's outstanding reputation with legal recruiters, Lateral Link members have a significant advantage when seeking a new position. In fact there are over 60 Lateral Link members currently interviewing for positions or with offers outstanding. Membership in Lateral Link is free and you can apply at www.laterallink.com.

Position: Counsel

Location: Philadelphia, PA

Description: This Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) which operates the electric transmission system serving the mid-Atlantic is seeking a Counsel to develop, communicate and implement effective regulatory communication to advance the Company's business agenda before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC"). The Counsel will have primary responsibility for executing the Company's regulatory strategies; managing outside legal resources and non-lawyer professionals and engaging in hands-on regulatory practice before FERC. In addition the Counsel will assist the General Counsel and executive management in formulating the Company's regulatory strategies and will counsel business managers, executive management and the Company board on regulatory developments. The ideal candidate will have at least 4 years of related experience, including experience with FERC practice and procedure.

For more information about this position or to apply, please see Position 10115 on Lateral Link. Current members can also contact their personal search consultant directly to discuss this position.

Many otherwise talented professionals are not good interviewers. When particularly busy or having a bad day, it is not unusual for an interviewer to lose sight of what is at stake for the person they are interviewing and consider the whole thing to be a waste of their time. Some interviewers see their role as weeding out candidates who "can't take the pressure" and are purposefully challenging, and still others--especially if they will not be working directly with the person hired-- just don't care.

Bad interviews happen, and over the course of a job search, tough interview questions are likely to be asked. As a candidate you are not in a position to control the situation, but what follows are some tips to help you leave a good impression from the other side of the table.

Guidelines

* Do your homework . Anticipate obvious questions, such as "What do you know about the company?" and "What did you think of that article in the Times yesterday?" and do research that lets you answer them. Beyond reviewing the company's website, Google them and the names of prominent clients to see if they have been in the media recently.

* Prepare fallback answers. It is of course always best to answer an interviewer's question directly, but if that's not possible, answer the question you wish they'd asked. (The presidential candidate debates provide a model for this strategy.) Bullet out points in advance about your skills and experience that you want to be sure you make, and segue to talk about what you bring to the table.

More guidelines after the jump.

[Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting -- sponsor of the Asia Chronicles, and an ATL advertiser. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past two years. You can reach them by email: asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com.]

This is Evan from Hong Kong, writing on the fly for about 20 minutes, at 2am, after a long day of meetings, late client dinner and before an early flight to Jakarta. We have recently been asked, by both firms and candidates, whether the downturn is changing the landscape of cola / housing / expat allowances ("expat allowance") in Asia and the Middle East. I have been hit with this question several times this week in meetings and Robert heard it as well two weeks ago in his meetings as well. So this post will deal with the basic expat allowance rates for associates without children. A follow-up post on Wednesday will deal with school tuition subsidies / reimbursement, expat allowance increases for children, and tax related windfalls (in some markets), as well as some commentary as to whether the current high expat allowances are sustainable for the long-term in Hong Kong and Tokyo, as firms expand in Asia and considering the reality that profit margins can be lower in Asia per billable hour than in US markets.

Please feel free to follow up in comments with any detailed questions on this subject, as we can only go so far in 1000 words here. Many top US and British firms in Asia and the Middle East have routinely asked us to advise them on various details of their expat allowance policy and we have also helped a number of firms draft come up with set expat allowance packages for the first time (rather than continue on case-by-case basis for each new hire). We have the expat allowance numbers for all firms in Asia (but are not going to give out such specific firm information in a public forum).

Hong Kong: The US associate expat allowance for Hong Kong have remained steady, with most top US firms paying in $60,000 to $80,000 range, for associates without children (only three firms are at $80,000 and most are in the 60s). A firm not paying at minimum a $60,000 allowance is simply not paying a competitive rate in the market. However, there are a handful relatively big name US firms that do not provide any expat allowance, or provide very low allowances, in Hong Kong. Such firms are still able to compete for solid candidates in today's market because the market is flooded with solid candidates, although we find that most of the firms that pay little or no expat allowance are small and not hiring at this time. The majority of the magic circle firms, as well as a handful of other top British firms, pay expat allowances for their US associates in the competitive $60,000 to $80,000 range, with a couple of notable exceptions.

Other cities after the jump.

Have you served your country with honor and dignity as a government lawyer? Maybe it is time to partake in the joys that only cash money can provide? This week's Job of the Week is perfect for someone looking to make a move out of government before the administration change. As always, the Job of the Week is brought to you by Lateral Link and this position qualifies for Lateral Link's $10,000 guaranteed signing bonus. Although the market is slow, Lateral Link continues to get its members offers, including Biglaw positions in New York, Austin, and San Francisco, all in the past week.

Position: White Collar Litigation Associate

Location: Washington, DC

Description: The Washington, D.C. office of an international law firm is seeking a white collar litigation associate. The ideal candidate will have at least 2-3 years of white collar litigation experience and excellent academic credentials. Previous employment at the DOJ is a plus. Some criminal investigations experience is a must. Candidate must be self-motivated, highly qualified and possess the ability to work well in groups.

For more information about this position or to apply, please see Position 10097 on Lateral Link. Current members can also contact their personal search consultant directly to discuss this position. Membership in Lateral Link is free and you can apply at www.laterallink.com.

As the saying goes, "Beauty is only skin deep." The same can be said about counteroffers. Yes, they come dressed in beautiful packages but shortly thereafter begin to expose their ugly insides.

Over the years, I have heard about candidates turning down offers for various reasons. I have heard everything from fear of current economic conditions to relocation costs. The reason I have heard all too often is the most deadly of them all: The Counteroffer. Yes, I used the word "deadly."

Accepting a counteroffer has proven to lead to job loss more often than not and in some cases has been career ending.

In an effort to save many from the trials and tribulations that I have witnessed directly and those that I have heard about, I have compiled a list of the top five ideas to consider before deciding to accept a counteroffer.

* First, there is such a thing as an offer that is too good to accept. Many employers will increase salary on the spot plus throw in a bonus to sweeten the deal. If an employer offers you more moneyto stay, remember that the same concerns about the job that lead you to look outward will still exist (too many hours, no opportunity for growth/substantive work, top heavy with senior associates or partners, etc.) As a result, after the euphoric feeling of the pay increase has worn off, you, like many others, will find that the partner that was difficult before has become almost unbearable now. The hours that seemed taxing before are now overwhelming. You must bear in mind that the same conditions that drove you to look initially will be there in full force the minute you turn down the new offer and accept the counteroffer. In fact, many claim that the conditions got worse, not better, after they decided to stay.

* Second, you will now and for the duration of your tenure be considered suspect. Since your supervising attorneys (and many others) are aware that you are unhappy and want to leave, many will no longer treat you as a loyal member of the team. Many will take your decision to resign personally, so if you decide to stay, expect the cold shoulder to get even colder over time. As a result of your desire to depart, you will be considered a fidelity risk to the firm and will be kept out of the loop and away from all of the best assignments. Many firms are reluctant to give the more substantive and career-advancing assignments to those whose long-term viability is in question. This is just one of the many reasons that the statistics regarding those that are no longer in their position 12 to 15 months after they accept a counteroffer range from 69% to 93%, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Additional reasons after the jump.

[Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting -- sponsor of the Asia Chronicles, and an ATL advertiser. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past two years. You can reach them by email: asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com.]

Robert here. ...

80+ US associate offers in Asia in the past year! This post space will be a shameless advertisement of Kinney Recruiting's recent accomplishments in Asia. Why? The information we have presented about the market over the last couple of years has been spread around and there are some slick recruiters out there who do not have nearly enough to do in their home markets these days. How do YOU determine whether a smooth talker has real experience in Asia before you put your trust in him/her? Our first recommendation: don't focus on flashy banner ads highlighting a couple of placements made in Asia. By all means, listen to whether the recruiter really knows what he is talking about. No one who talks to our Asia team, led by Evan Jowers, is going to have any doubt he is dealing with someone who knows his business. Evan's been named one of the 15 most important recruiters to know by LawDragon.com, for gosh sakes (see our related flashy banner ad coming soon). But since a lot of us focus on the recent offers and placements above all else, and because so many recruiters are claiming expertise in Asia now, we think it is time to go "open kimono" and give you some specifics. Without further ado, here is a list of some of our recent, in the past year, associate placements and offers received in Asia. We have left partners out of this list (who are my focus) and a few of the recent offers were probably missed, but we still couldn't fit all of it in a banner advertisement. We'll edit this to add about 10 more offers as we pull the information together.

'02 from NYC - Sullivan & Cromwell (Tokyo)

'07 from NYC- Weil Gotshal (Hong Kong)

'05 from Hong Kong - Cleary (Hong Kong)

'07 from NYC - Debevoise (Shanghai)

'06 from Beijing - Simpson Thacher (Beijing)

'05 from Hong Kong - Linklaters (Hong Kong)

'02 from NYC - Weil Gotshal (Hong Kong)

'04 from Bay Area - Davis Polk (Tokyo)

'05 from NYC - MoFo (Shanghai)

'98 from NYC- Vinson & Elkins (Dubai)

See the rest of the table after the jump.

[Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting -- sponsor of the Asia Chronicles, and an ATL advertiser. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past two years. You can reach them by email: asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com.]

This is Robert, writing jet-lagged after just having returned to Texas from Tokyo, where Evan remains right now prior to returning to Hong Kong in a couple of days for a stay of several weeks. I live in Austin, Texas because this is where I last practiced law, with Brobeck from 2000-2002, Austin is a nice place to live, and this is where our two children (ages six and eight) were born. The flight connections are surprisingly good - I had a full day of meetings on Friday in Tokyo and was home in time for dinner with my family the same day. Still, this is not a particularly convenient place to run one of the leading Asia-focused legal recruiting practices in the country. Thankfully, my partner in the region, Evan Jowers, is able to spend a majority of his time in Asia these days (and he has the Executive Platinum status and bulging passport to prove it) and my wife is understanding of my four or five annual trips of one or two weeks each.

We make these trips for two main reasons. First, we believe in providing the most transparent possible service to our candidates and clients and in doing so with the highest value-add of any recruiting firm. We can't add much value if all we do is make a few late night phone calls and send a few resumes, and we're not going to exaggerate to make up for lack of actual experience. It drives me crazy to see the level of exaggeration and puffery that surrounds most legal recruiters' advertising. Secondly, because of our success in the region we are now working on several strategic plays by law firms in Asia, involving potentially large shifts in the market. Appearing live is an absolute necessity to keep these deals moving.

Read more after the jump.

If you are fluent in Spanish or Portuguese, here's an excellent opportunity for your consideration. As always, the Job of the Week is brought to you by Lateral Link.

Position: Associate, Latin America Practice

Location: New York, NY

Description: The Latin American practice of this New York-based law firm is seeking fluent Spanish and Portuguese speakers with 1 to 3 years of experience. This group focuses on transactional and litigation practices, where associates usually focus on one of the two practice areas.

This New York-based law firm ranks Top 20 on Am Law 100 rankings of U.S. law firms, based on revenue. It has more than 500 attorneys and several offices worldwide, including locations in Paris, Brussels, Rome, Moscow, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. The firm's practice areas include corporate law, litigation, intellectual property, employee benefits, and environmental law. Among Vault's Top 10 most prestigious firms, Vault reports that "Uppers" include: International work; Accessible partners; and Great firm culture. And the "Notable Perks" include: "Overseas rotation program"; "Weekly wine and cheese parties held on Fridays"; "All associates get their own offices (even summer associates)"; and "Free gym membership anywhere in town."

For more information, please see Position 10077 on Lateral Link or contact Miguel Escobar: mescobar@laterallink.com or 646.419.4231.

Miguel Escobar is a Director at Lateral Link. Miguel oversees attorney placements in New York, Washington, D.C. and South Florida. Prior to joining Lateral Link, Miguel worked for a prominent legal search firm and as an associate in the litigation department at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP. Miguel has also worked at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees. Miguel holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law and a B.A. in Political Science, with honors, from Brown University.

I have been at my current firm less than two years and want to look for a new job, but I'm afraid I'm too junior. Do I have a chance of getting a job somewhere else, or should I stay put another year?

There does tend to be a belief among associates that they must stay at their first job for at least two years, mostly because they are concerned about how employers will view their decision to make a lateral move at a junior level. However, if you have a good reason for wanting to switch firms, then having an early move in your career shouldn't be a problem.

As far as being able to get a job before the two-year mark, if there are positions available at other firms for first- or second-year associates, then there is a chance of landing a new job. Bo Kim, Manager of Lateral Associate Recruitment at Vedder Price in Chicago , agrees that "there isn't a hard-and-steady rule. Oftentimes, firms have posted needs for associates with one to two years' experience."

Additionally, moving as a junior associate is sometimes a better idea than moving as a mid-level or senior associate. More-senior laterals have to deal with the pressures of integrating into their new firm and meeting partnership criteria at the same time. According to Kim, "moving as a junior associate gives you more time to acclimate to the firm and your practice area before having to worry about partnership."

More advice after the jump.

[Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting -- sponsor of the Asia Chronicles, and an ATL advertiser. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past two years. You can reach them by email: asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com.]

Evan here, writing from Tokyo, late Monday night, hoping you are laughing at my attempt at humor above.

So what is the latest on the general lateral market in Asia and the Middle East? Things have not changed much in the past six weeks, with many firms most definitely still interviewing on a fairly regular basis (although several big name firms are in temporary hiring freeze mode in Asia), albeit very selectively, and moving much slower than months ago in making offers. For example, this week I have an '04 from the West Coast interviewing in Tokyo; an '07 from NYC interviewing in Dubai; an '01 from NYC interviewing in HK; an '06 from NYC interviewing in Singapore; an '06 from NYC interviewing in Moscow (well, it is Eurasia); an '06 from HK interviewing in HK; and an'05 from NYC interviewing in HK. Only several months ago, most of these very impressive candidates would have offers in hand on the spot or within a few days of their interview, especially after already being pre-screened by me. Now, offer decisions are typically dragging out two weeks and sometimes much longer. Firms are also having multiple rounds of interviews, with the process continuing when the US based candidate returns home, by VC and / or phone calls (this was rare in the hotter market of earlier this year). Also, on a somewhat related note, we are noticing with our offers that some firms in mainland China and Singapore are wavering a bit on expat / cola / housing packages (offering less than they did earlier this year), but this is not at all happening in HK and Tokyo, where the packages are either the same or going higher (at many firms).

One area of particularly urgent need in the HK / China market is PE / M&A associates with 3+ years for HK and BJ. A few of our top 20 firm clients are looking to fill such spots, so if you feel that you fit the bill, please do feel free to get in touch and we will be happy to go over the details.

I will be in Tokyo all this week and early next, meeting with a number of firms, as well as past placed associates (a bonus in using Kinney for an Asia move is this author showing up in your new market from time to time, unannounced, and convincing you to go out for drinks on a busy work night) and some new prospective or active candidates, before heading back to Hong Kong for a couple of weeks and then Shanghai (photo) for a few days. It is a month in Asia for me, with a side trip at the end to Bali and Jakarta for a little relaxing. Robert is in HK now and will be also be in Tokyo for a couple of days this week, before heading home to Austin (he runs our company, so can't travel as much as me). Partners at over 30 firms have thus far scheduled meetings with Robert and / or me in HK and Tokyo, so we should have a nice market report to share soon. On a side note, the new Peninsula in Tokyo gets high marks and may be my new favorite Tokyo hotel.

More of a week in the life after jump.

Have you ever wanted to be a part an industry on the cutting edge of law and science. A major pharmaceuticals company has an opening for you. As always, the Job of the Week is brought to you by Lateral Link

Position: Mid-Level Corporate Counsel

Location: Alameda, California

Experience: 2 - 5 years

Description: This global, broad-based healthcare company is devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of pharmaceuticals and medical products, including nutritionals, devices, and diagnostics. The company employs more than 68,000 people worldwide and markets its products in more than 130 countries, with revenues of $25.9 billion in 2007. The Alameda, CA office is seeking a mid-level corporate associate to draft, negotiate and review contracts. The successful candidate must have 2 - 5 years of corporate experience at a major law firm or corporation; a record of success in counseling clients on a range of business transactions; and an understanding of the health care industry and knowledge of federal and state fraud and abuse regulations.

For more information, please see Position 10032 on Lateral Link or contact Maricar Tinio. Membership in Lateral Link is free and you can apply at www.laterallink.com.

Almost anyone who has interviewed for a job is familiar with the point at which the prospective employer asks, "So, do you have any questions for me?" Not everyone prepares for this moment, however, and "No, I don't think so," remains a surprisingly common response.

Candidates who decline to ask questions in an interview pass up a significant opportunity to advance their interests. Worse, this lack of initiative can leave the impression that either a) they don't particularly care whether they get the position, or b) they aren't knowledgeable enough to anticipate the types of issues involved in the work.

By contrast, asking thoughtful questions in a job interview allows candidates to:

* show you understand the types of issues facing the company,
* demonstrate how you would develop strategies to address such issues,
* highlight your critical thinking and problem solving skills, and
* underscore your interest by taking the time to research the individual company.

In a pool of otherwise equally qualified candidates, asking suitably crafted questions can help you stand out, and at the same time give you valuable information to help you decide whether you would accept an offer there.

1. What not to ask...
It should go without saying that an initial interview is not the time to ask questions about salary, vacation, or other benefits. Similarly, questions relating to turnover rates, how quickly staff are promoted, how often people move between practice groups, and where people go when they leave the job should wait until after an offer is made.

Remember that basic rules of interview etiquette continue to apply as you articulate what it is you want to know. Your interests are not advanced by coming across as a know-it-all, challenging why the company has or has not taken certain actions, or opining on matters you really don't know much about. You leverage the opportunity to showcase your skills only when the questions you pose are both substantive and appropriate in the context of an interview.

Additional tips after the jump.

With so much recent attention directed to petroleum prices and climate change, many lawyers and lawyers-in-training have developed an interest in energy law as a possible career path. This article aims to lend some advice to those attempting to land a lateral energy position or otherwise start a career in energy. As a non-energy lawyer, the chances of a successful re-tool into energy largely depend on whether your interests lie in regulatory or transactional energy work. If you are currently a transactional lawyer with project development experience, you may find it easier to transfer to a transactional/project development energy practice. This is largely due to the fact that you can adapt your pre-existing project development expertise to a new industry more easily that you can learn an entirely new regulatory regime.

In contrast, switching to an energy regulatory practice with no relevant experience is more difficult and, in this market, is next to impossible. It's a buyer's market for law firms, and the firms (for the most part) can sit back and wait for candidates with actual energy regulatory experience to come along.

The most sought after candidates at both the entry and lateral levels are those who have prior experience at FERC or state utility commissions. Those in law school interested in an energy regulatory path should strongly consider interning at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) or a state utility commission; and those practicing attorneys interested in switching to energy may consider working for a year or two in an entry level or junior capacity at a commission, in order to transition to a law firm later.

Additional options after the jump.

Evan here.

Robert and I were both recently asked by American Lawyer for our take on the current overseas US lateral hiring market. In preparing an informative article on this topic, Brian Baxter, of AmLaw, interviewed many well regarded attorney recruiters, both in the US and abroad, including but not at all limited to the few recruiters quoted in his article. Here is an excerpt of his Oct. 9, 2008 article, "Where Do I Send My Resume Now?:

GLOBAL AMBITIONS

The downturn has hit the world financial centers in New York and London the hardest. And with emerging markets like Dubai and Singapore (pictured above) quickly gaining ground as leading financial centers, many out of work lawyers are setting their sights on the Middle East and Asia.

"I've been just as busy this year as last, but now there are four times as many candidates looking to go overseas from the U.S.," says Evan Jowers, managing director of the Hong Kong and New York offices of Kinney Recruiting. "A big part of it is the market slowdown in the U.S., London, and other Western places, but another reason is that many firms with offices abroad were already looking to expand."

Speaking from Dubai while on a "half-pleasure, half-business" trip to check out the legal landscape, Jowers says U.S. and British law firms in Hong Kong, China, Japan, Singapore, Moscow, and the Middle East are busier than their Western counterparts...

"More people are looking overseas but I don't necessarily think that more are going," says Kinney Recruiting's founder and president, Robert Kinney.

The reasons? For one, greater selectivity.

Just being an associate at a major New York firm won't cut it. "[Hiring partners in Asia] are looking for the best of the best on paper: top 10 law school, top grades, and all the languages that they used to not care so much about, now they care," says Jowers.

Jai Pathak, partner-in-charge of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher's Singapore office, echoes the point. "Among the younger crowd whom we don't know, training and pedigree are paramount, and to a lesser extent, but equally important, is sensitivity to the culture and nuances of the local environment," he says. (Gibson Dunn opened offices in Dubai and Singapore within the past year.)

Also, rather than recruit new talent, many large firms and multinational corporations are relocating current employees, says Mark Anderson, managing consultant of the Dubai office of U.K. legal recruiter Laurence Simons International.

"If you've got people in other jurisdictions who are serving an area like the Middle East, from Europe or America, there might be a time when you eventually need someone on the ground here," Anderson says. "[W]hy not move someone internally rather than go on a recruiting spree, especially in tough times like these?"

In fact, Kinney's Jowers was in Dubai partly to help law firms with nascent Dubai offices set up expatriate packages--employee perks, including housing allowances and other COLA-related expenses...

More after the jump.

Tired of the East Coast grind? Looking to relocate to a city consistently ranked among the best places to live and launch a business? Love country music (or not!)? Then these openings at this 234-lawyer firm in Nashville may be for you. As always, the Job of the Week is brought to you by Lateral Link, and as with other Lateral Link law firm positions, this job qualifies for a $10,000 guaranteed signing bonus. Lateral Link is giving away Vault Top 100 Law Firm Guides to all its
Members in October.

Position: Corporate & Securities Associate (4 to 6 years)

Description: Associates in the Corporate & Securities Practice Area have the opportunity to work in a wide variety of areas, including public company representation, public and private equity and debt securities offerings, as both issuer's and underwriter's counsel, mergers and acquisitions, including going private transactions, venture capital financings, and corporate governance. For more information on this position or to apply, please see Position 9346 on Lateral Link.

Position: Healthcare Associate (4 to 6 years)

Description: The Health Law Practice is multi-disciplinary and represents clients on transactional, regulatory and operational matters. For more information on this position or to apply, please see Position 9347 on Lateral Link.

Position: Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Associate (4 to 8 years).

Description: The group is seeking an associate with experience in the area of employee benefits and executive compensation, including qualified retirement plans, health and welfare benefit plans, regulatory compliance with the Internal Revenue Code, ERISA, COBRA and HIPAA, and employee benefits issues related to mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. For more information on this position or to apply, please see Position 9348 on Lateral Link.

Current members can also contact their personal search consultant directly to discuss this position. Membership in Lateral Link is free and you can apply at www.laterallink.com.

[Ed. note: This post is authored by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting -- sponsor of the Asia Chronicles, and an ATL advertiser. Kinney has made more placements of U.S. associates and partners in Asia than any other firm in the past two years. You can reach them by email: asia at kinneyrecruiting dot com.]

Evan here, continuing yesterday's post. I am sure you lost sleep in anticipation...

We believe that the level of participation at the recent Dubai conferences can be viewed as a barometer of market optimism. If the barometer is working, then there is some cause for hope. Over 70,000 people from 150 countries were in attendance at Cityscape Dubai 2008 last week and over 1500 participants from 150 countries showcased projects. This represented record participation by both local and international developers and is a substantial sign of confidence in the UAE's economy and real-state market, notwithstanding the global financial crisis.

At present there are more than 250 major civil construction projects, worth $120 billion, in the Gulf region. Many of these are in the bidding stage. Only a day before Cityscape Dubai 2008 opened its doors, Nakheel announced it will build a new building in Dubai with world-record height as part of a $38 billion project. The building will reach about one kilometer in height and will be substantially taller than the current tallest building in the world, the Burj Dubai. The Burj Dubai is almost finished and is 40% taller than any other building in the world.

Bullish executives, as we know, can't always be trusted, but listen to Peter Riddoch, CEO of DAMAC Properties Dubai: "We believe Dubai has the potential to become the most expensive commercial real estate destination in the world in the coming years. The demand and prices for office spaces is increasing; according to a recent report by Colliers International, Dubai is ranked third in terms of global office real estate construction activity, behind Moscow and Shanghai." The office occupancy rate in Dubai has been reported to be over 98% in '08.

More positive buzz after the jump.