# Young lawyer getting ready for Bahrain !



## Erich_Rhoemer (Aug 12, 2015)

Hi Everyone, 

I'm a brand new US attorney and I was hired in-house to become the EMEA specialist for a US company, with the goal to relocate me to Bahrain (Manama) within the next 15 months.
As such, I have a lot of questions regarding this move.

But first a little bit about me:
As I said earlier, I am a brand new attorney.
I just graduated from a relatively small US law school with a JD.
However I'm not a traditional student, I immigrated to the U.S. 4 years ago and before that I had graduated from an LL.M. and LL.B. from 2 large French universities.
I'm married to a lovely nurse, and am now a US citizen as well.
We have no kids and no plans to spawn anytime soon 

As I wrote earlier, I was hired by a mid-size U.S. engineering company (not petroleum though) to be their EMEA specialist because of my civil law background and international experience: I've worked in France, India and the U.S. with a variety of employer (law firms, clerkship, U.N., a large french bank), though never as a full blown attorney. 
The company I joined has a pretty decent international presence, but unfortunately they have nearly no experience expatriating Americans as they generally import talent.
I would like to gain a bit more info on what to recommend to my employer and how to negotiate the best move. It's not until a few months, but I just don't want to worry about it too late.

I am wondering how things will be over there, for myself and my wife.
I would like to have your opinion about certain things. At the moment I am trying to figure out the following:


1 -- Life:
- How is the cultural life over there?
We are currently living in the inland northwest, and as such it is pretty much a cultural desert compared to what I grew up with in France. Going to a larger city I'm hoping it will be a bit better regarding museums, operas/theater, etc...

- How is the day to day life compared to a large US/European city?

- How is it for women over there? 
I know this is kind of broad, but what I am wondering is that if yourself, or your wife had to change much of her routine when you moved, and if so, what changed.

- Does your spouse works over there?

- How did you and your spouse adapt to the new environment over there and how fast?

- How is public transportation? Is it efficient at all, or do you rely mostly on your own car?

- Hobby-wise, what do you do over there after you've visited the town? 
What kind of activities does the town offer?
How expensive do you feel hobbies are compared to where you come from? 

- How is the international community? Do you mostly hang out with people from you own country, or is it a mix? What are your relations with the locals?


2 -- Cost:
- How is the cost of accommodation compared to a US (or a French) city? [or any western part of the world you have lived in]

- How is the cost of food?
I mean how much do you spend eating in for your and your couple/family on average every months?

- How expensive are most of the local restaurants on average?

-How is inflation? I heard that accommodation especially can increase or decrease significantly from a year to another.


3 -- Expat' package
I have read some info about people that posted what their proposed package was on this forum. But the issue is that I can hardly find any information regarding what would be acceptable for someone in my position: in house, from the US, and well under 30 yo.

Currently, between my wife and myself, we make close 140k USD before tax (60 for me, approx’ 80k for her w/ overtime). But our cost of living (accommodation, food, internet, phone, water, electricity, fuel and car insurance for 2 simple cars) is only around 30k. As such, we can save, and knock down our student loans very fast.
Unfortunately she may not be able to work in the UAE for various reasons, and I would then be the only breadwinner.

- I wonder what is the expectable salary for in-house lawyer over there? 
Any idea what it is for lawyers around 1 to 2 years of experience?

- What kind of benefits does your employer provides you for you and your family:
-- housing?
-- school for children? [not planning on kids, but I'd like to know]
-- spousal allowance?
-- car/fuel ?
-- flights home?
-- Any other?
-- How often are your expat benefits updated?

You might have seen this post in the dubai section, and that because until yesterday, I thought that it was where I was going. 
In actuality, it will be Manama.

I'll be very grateful for any info anyone could give me on this topic!
Thanks a lot, and Best!

- E.R.


----------



## wolff909 (Sep 8, 2015)

welcome and good luck!!


----------

