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The Importance of Utilizing Your J.D. Right After Law School

published January 03, 2013

By CEO and Founder - BCG Attorney Search left
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( 66 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
What do you think about this article? Rate it using the stars above and let us know what you think in the comments below.
Dear Lawcrossing,

l am curious: What would it do to my later legal ,Ci career to take a non-legal job after law school? I am considering a position as a financial consultant, and I am also considering pursuing my boyhood dream of being a police officer. What do you advise?


SC, New Yoylc

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DEAR Sir,

You're not alone in wanting to hold your law degree in a state of suspended animation while you pursue something else, SC, so let's talk about how you go about accomplishing that.

As a rule of thumb, "The closer your immediate dream job is to a practice area or legal topic, the easier it is to go back," according to Mary Birmingham, Dean of Career Services at the University of Arizona Law School. So if you, for instance, pursue your financial consulting option, you'd expect a fairly smooth transition to practicing corporate law. On the other hand, if you opted to travel the world as a lion tamer, you'd encounter predictable difficulty selling a law firm on your professional assets (although expertise with a whip can be an advantage in so many adversarial situations, don't you agree?).

Take into account, SC, that it would be up to you at the end of your hiatus from law to come up with exactly what it is you bring to the law firm table as a result of your experience, whether you spend that time as a financial consultant, software designer, spy, whatever. Mary Birmingham herself spent the first few years after law school working for a labor union, handling arbitra-tions and mediations. When she decided to try practicing law after all, she successfully sold herself to litigation firms as someone who knew how to present a position and represent clients. She points out that if your other experience has put you in a position to bring in clients-making you the golden goose of law in the form of a rainmaker-that is a huge plus. So if you try financial consulting, keep that Rolodex up-to-date and that Christmas card list humming.

At this point you may be wondering, "Why, LawCrossing, have you glossed over the police officer option?" Because LawCrossing is sensitive to the idea of building up to a climax, that's why. And what makes the police officer option the climax here? Because you said so yourself, SC-it's your dream, and those are magic words to LawCrossing. Although you didn't ask, you'll find that your law degree is a real asset as a police officer. As Mary Birmingham points out, "Although it's unusual for a police officer to have a law degree, it will make it much easier for you to advance through the ranks."

When it comes to making the trip back to practicing law ... well, nothing is impossible. It's actually a lot easier to do things in a different order than you propose, namely, police officer -* law student -? lawyer, rather than your idea of law student -> police officer -? lawyer. As Peggy McCartney, Assistant Career Services Director at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis (and herself a former prosecutor) says, "A police background for lawyers is great." The flip-flop you're proposing?

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Peggy McCartney says, "Why not combine your two interests, and consider the FBI, where having a law degree is a real plus, and field officers are really glorified police officers. Or try the Drug Enforcement Agency, or even the prosecutor's office. Any one of those may fulfill your desire to be a white knight." She goes on to say that the problem with being a police officer now and a lawyer later on is that "Police technology is not like getting technical skills as a lawyer. It's not impossible to make the transition, but the distance between your law degree and practicing law creates problems." In other words, SC, it's not impossible to do exactly what you asked LawCrossing . . . but why bother, when you can do something right now that might fulfill everything you want? Why have your law degree hanging over your head like the sword of Damocles (look it up), making you feel guiltier and guiltier as the years go by? And if you think and think and think about it and it's being a police officer you really want, then resolve yourself to being an extraordinarily well-educated cop. It's your life, and your dream, SC-and if it ultimately doesn't mean flexing that law degree eight hours a day, there's no crime in that.

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Alternative Summary

Harrison is the founder of BCG Attorney Search and several companies in the legal employment space that collectively gets thousands of attorneys jobs each year. Harrison’s writings about attorney careers and placement attract millions of reads each year. Harrison is widely considered the most successful recruiter in the United States and personally places multiple attorneys most weeks. His articles on legal search and placement are read by attorneys, law students and others millions of times per year.

More about Harrison

About LawCrossing

LawCrossing has received tens of thousands of attorneys jobs and has been the leading legal job board in the United States for almost two decades. LawCrossing helps attorneys dramatically improve their careers by locating every legal job opening in the market. Unlike other job sites, LawCrossing consolidates every job in the legal market and posts jobs regardless of whether or not an employer is paying. LawCrossing takes your legal career seriously and understands the legal profession. For more information, please visit www.LawCrossing.com.

published January 03, 2013

By CEO and Founder - BCG Attorney Search left
( 66 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
What do you think about this article? Rate it using the stars above and let us know what you think in the comments below.