Articles From the Team
The growing demand for language skills
In recent years we have seen the demand for qualified lawyers and paralegals with foreign language skills increase, especially in relation to document review roles.
The ability to read and analyse complex legal documents in foreign languages is important in projects involving multi-national documents and documents that require translation from other languages, therefore bilingual and trilingual candidates are highly sought after.
This demand for lawyers and paralegals with language skills has created a wealth of opportunities for overseas candidates to work in some of the top City firms and we are working with candidates from all over the globe. Most recently we have seen a demand for candidates fluent in Russian, German, Chinese and Japanese.
The duration of these projects can vary dramatically depending upon the number of documents. They can be as short as a few weeks or as long as a year, sometimes longer. The hourly rate paid to candidates can also vary depending upon a number of factors, such as the firm hiring and whether candidates are going in as foreign qualified lawyers or paralegals.
When we are instructed on roles requiring language skills we typically find that clients prefer candidates who are native in the required language. More often than not clients will ask us to test potential candidate’s language proficiency before they are hired to work on the project.
BCL Legal’s Volume Services team has been established to service City law firms by providing interim paralegals and lawyers to support litigation teams on large scale document review projects. Our team is experienced and we have previously managed significant projects which have required upwards of 20 lawyers.
If you are an experienced lawyer or paralegal with at least six months experience and immediately available for temporary work we can assist you to find legal work. Whilst language skills are highly sought after we are able to work with those candidates who do not have any additional language skills.
For firms that recruit temporary lawyers or paralegals we register candidates who are available at short notice. The candidates we work with are either qualified lawyers or experienced paralegals who are looking for document review work. We have a database of candidates with language skills spanning the globe that are rigorously tested in their language proficiency. In addition we meet the candidates we work with and check their eligibility to work in the Uk.
For further information please contact BCL Legal or call 0845 241 0933.