How do you find foreign counsel for a client without joining an international law firm network?

What foreign or local counsel does

Foreign counsel, also called local or correspondent counsel, is a lawyer admitted in the other country who handles the part of the matter there: advice on local law, court proceedings, enforcement, a property or company transaction. You keep the client and coordinate; your colleague acts where you are not admitted.

The three usual routes

Your own contacts or an international law firm network. Networks of independent firms (ILN, Lex Mundi, Meritas, The Law Firm Network and others) give their members trusted colleagues abroad; each network sets its own membership terms, and some admit one firm per city.

Official registers. In the EU the e-Justice portal searches lawyers by name, location, spoken language and practice area; every bar keeps its own register of admitted lawyers.

An open directory. On LawBridge you filter lawyers and law firms by country, city, practice area and language, compare profiles and decide whom to contact. No membership is needed to search.

What to check before you instruct a colleague abroad

Admission in that country (the bar register), the practice area and the language you will work in, a conflict check, and a written fee agreement: who instructs, who pays and in which currency.

How it works on LawBridge

Search the directory, or describe the matter in a request: the countries concerned, the practice area, the language, and your firm as the sender. You don't need your client's name at this stage.

After sending you usually see the proposed lawyers and choose who receives the request. They reply to you, so you remain your client's lawyer.

A Standard request is free. LawBridge is not a law firm and charges no fee for referrals; your colleague's fee is agreed directly with them. The number of countries with approved lawyers on LawBridge keeps growing.