Finding Jobs as an Attorney

Jobs attorney are generally in one of two aspects of law-civil law and criminal law. Civil law attorneys will deal with cases that are not criminal. These will include divorce, child custody, real estate disputes, non-payment of rent etc. Criminal law attorneys will work either for the government as prosecutors or for the legal firms who defend those accused of committing the crimes. Criminal law covers shootings, burglaries, thefts, homicides and assault.

Attorney jobs are available in both the private and the public sector-from federal and local governments, to businesses and not for profit organisations. The place of operation of attorney jobs also differs with some based almost exclusively in an office such as a corporate legal counsel, to those who spend most of their time in courtrooms.


The nature of their work sometimes means that attorneys may work long and irregular hours especially for those that specialize in private clients. Many preparatory hours must be spent to go through the relevant aspects of the law whether it is a contract being assessed or it is a major court case coming up. Thankfully, all the hard work and long hours does usually pay off not only in the pride of knowing that you have done a good job but the pay is pretty decent too. The average salary of an attorney in the US is in the region of $110,000 - $120,000 per annum. Obviously this amount can be extremely variable depending on a number of factors such as location, nature of legal practice, your employer's pay scales and your experience.

How do you find an attorney job though? Many people will correctly tell you that networking is the number one way of enhancing your chances of getting any jobs attorney included. You need to make sure that you attend the right kind of event to get the most useful contacts from them. Look for events that may be sponsored by legal firms, bar associations and corporate businesses. Attempt to attend as many as you can as you never know either how good an event may be or who you may meet.

Learn as much as you can about any event you are considering attending-who is sponsoring it, what do they do and what do they hope to accomplish through the event. Failing to undertake adequate research is one area many people fail; but if you keep abreast of current affairs around the core subject matter during the event, you will be better equipped to discuss matters with others at these events and come across as knowledgeable thus creating a good lasting impression. You do not want to be the one who is most uninformed on most topics that come up for discussion.

You also need to start to hone your legal skills even before you get employed. Ideally, you will want to be paid for any legal work that you undertake but just think how invaluable the experience you could get by working on real cases can be even when you do it for free. This type of work will let you apply the techniques and knowledge that you have acquired during your studies. You will soon discover that the real world is vastly different from the classroom. Try to work on different areas of law if possible to see if there is a certain aspect of law that you excel in or enjoy better than others.

In the same breath, consider offering your services to not for profit organisations-this will highlight your community spirit and will show your capabilities in the workplace and ability to manage projects, some of which may be quite complex. This experience will place you in good stead for the future when looking for jobs attorney.