<p>It would be difficult for a firm in the U.S. to rationalize hiring a Canadian lawyer over an American lawyer if he has NO work experience. </p>
<p>I work overseas. Every country I have worked in requires significant prior work experience (the norm is 10 years) to justify a work visa. Or the company has to document that it could not find a qualified local citizen to hire for the job. A PhD engineering graduate from a foreign country might easily get sponsored by a U.S. company for a work permit straight out of school, bcs that skill/expertise is in short supply, but lawyers are far from being in short supply in the U.S.</p>
<p>Given the extraordinary high cost of going to law school, the high experience threshold for getting a skilled job in a foreign country, the multitude of available local citizens, and the poor outlook for the law profession in the U.S., I can think of much less risky paths for the OP to pursue.</p>