This article deals with the various options that you are left to pursue once you have completed law school. As a graduate, you can go for courses in higher education or even take up training as a judicial clerk. This allows you to put your knowledge to good use as well as build potential contacts.
Once you are in a law school, you need to know what to do if you are planning to embark on a legal career. It is time to choose the career goals that you are looking forward to achieve. Make a detailed evaluation of the career choices that a degree in law gives you. Here is an article that tells you everything about what to do and what not to when you are looking for embarking on a legal job.
What Happens after Your Legal Qualification?
Once you have cleared the state bar, you are all ready to go for a legal career. This is the time when all your theoretical knowledge will be applied in practical usage of the legal system. Until now, you were thinking like an attorney and all you will require at this moment is to work like one as well. Decide on and weigh your options and then analyze your priorities. Are you looking for a high paying legal career or are you looking for something that leaves you with time to spare for family members? Are you looking for a specialization or a practice niche? Can you work like a workaholic or are you in need of a relaxed legal schedule?
Higher Education
Once you have obtained a JD qualification, it is time for you to opt for a post JD degree or go for the state bar licensure. This is an advanced degree that is offered in various legal colleges. Through these, you can secure a competitive edge over your other equals. Generally, graduates from law schools take up the advanced courses after gaining certain years of experience in the legal field. The qualifications you can possibly go for in your legal career include the following:
LLM: Master of Law
JM: Juris Master
MCL: Master of Comparative Law
SJD: Doctor of Judicial Science
DCL: Doctor of Comparative Law
JSD: Doctor of Jurisprudence
Employment Options in Legal Careers
Generally, graduates of law work in law firms after completing school. You may even take up judicial clerkship or work for the military or the government, seek employment in the legal department of a corporate firm or become a professor of law. There are a lot of graduates from law school who may at times go for a non legal career or even go for higher studies in order to obtain advanced degrees.
You can also start your own private practice after a few years of work experience with a legal firm. For this you need to invest in infrastructure, office, staff, and advertising. Initially, it is a lot of hard work, but once you establish yourself, there is no looking back.
Salary
A law career is very lucrative for a person with the right qualifications. Salaries depend on specialization as well as the size and location of the employer. It can be anywhere between $70,000 and $145,600 and more. When working in a private practice, earnings depend on the clientele.
Thank you. I think your service is wonderful and I highly recommend it to anyone in the legal field. Suzanne
Facts
LawCrossing Fact #27: LawCrossing monitors more than 250,000 websites -- and counting -- on a daily basis to add to our selection of jobs.
Enjoyed reading this article? Click here to sign up for News Wire, our weekly newsletter, and you'll receive articles just like this right in your inbox.
Enter your email address and start getting breaking law firm and legal news right now!
Reason 58: LawCrossing lets you save up to ten resumes and up to ten supplementary materials online (even as Word or PDF files) and access them from anywhere there is an Internet connection.
Description:
Chicago office seeks associate with 5+ years of experience to join the General Litigation practice group. "This is a large, prestigious full service firm based in Chicago, with offices in two of the major cities in the East Coast and the Midwest. Its strong suit is handling corporate and finance, litigation, intellectual property, trusts & estates, product liability, real estate, environmental, tax, labor and employment and construction matters. The firm has an interesting ...