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Law-Related Career Alternatives

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  2. Legal Articles
  3. Attorney
  4. Attorney Career Choices
  5. Changing Careers as an Attorney
  6. Law-Related Career Alternatives

published May 21, 2013

By Author - LawCrossing
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( 11 votes, average: 3.7 out of 5)
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Law-Related Career Alternatives


Many lawyers not only continue to practice law throughout their careers, but also report significant satisfaction with their chosen line of work and its various economic as well as psychological payoffs. What then separates those who like the traditional practice of law from those who leave it? The answers are as varied as the individuals who make the decisions, but in almost every case life-style seems to be a determining variable. If you want to consider carefully your career choice inside as well as outside of traditional practice, you will want to ask yourself several difficult life-style questions:
  • What is most important to me-work or leisure?

     
  • How do I want to apportion the hours in my day?
     
  • What standard of living do I need or want to maintain?
     
  • What job-related activities do I find most satisfying?
     
  • What skills do I have that I want to use or develop?
     
  • What types of relationships do I want to foster-friends, family, professional?
     
  • What characteristics of a job, its duties, or its environment are important to me?
The answers to these questions will to a great extent determine what jobs and ultimately which career you will want to pursue.

The Career Path Study also reveals that the longer attorneys were out of law school, the more likely they were to move from law to law-related or non-legal positions. This dispels the notion that those who pursue alternatives to traditional practice do so because they overreact to a bad law school experience, go through a late adolescent crisis, or cannot find a traditional legal job. It also indicates that such life-style decisions may be made at any time in your career.

If the answers to the questions above take you beyond the life-style associated with traditional law practice, then you will want to read on about the alternatives available to you, which fall into two categories: law-related and Non-legal.

Alternative careers related to law allow you to use the skills you have developed in law school while enabling you to expand your law-related duties into broader areas of responsibility. Such jobs are easier to find than Non-legal positions because the circle of contacts developed in the traditional law world may also be helpful in these related areas. Law- related jobs may also be easier to obtain because your skills are more directly transferable, and marketing your experience will therefore be easier. Finally, such jobs, unlike Non-legal jobs, may permit you to return more easily to law later.

The Career Path Study identifies the most common law-related positions, listed below. The brief comments on each provided here are intended to give you a sense of how accessible and desirable such a position might be to you.
  • Judges. There are three ways to become one-appointment, election, or promotion. Being appointed usually requires a distinguished career and/or a well-placed mentor or political friend. Being elected requires even more political connections. Being promoted into the position of administrative law judge almost always requires former government service.
     
  • Law Teachers. The highest level of job satisfaction for lawyers in traditional or law-related positions is reported by law teachers. A good academic foundation with some publishing, practice experience, and maybe even a judicial clerkship all are desirable. Courses to be taught range from traditional law disciplines and legal interdisciplinary law to history, political science, or literature in undergraduate institutions.
     
  • Court and Law Firm Administrators. Many law-related organizations now employ individuals to help run or administer their work. Such organizations include bar associations, their sections and committees, and courts at the local, state, and federal levels. Educational institutions (including law schools) and businesses (including larger law firms) also hire individuals who have a law degree or demonstrated experience or education in administration or management.
     
  • Mediators. Positions in mediation, arbitration, and labor relations counseling all rely heavily on knowledge of labor law and personnel management. Such positions may be found in settings as varied as national organizations, unions, large corporations, and individual home-based consulting outfits. Many individuals who have been successful in this cluster of alternatives have apprenticed themselves in a mentor or guild type of relationship to someone already established in the field.
     
  • Law Librarians. Law librarians not only serve law schools, but may also be found in courts, government agencies, corporate legal departments, bar associations, and private firms. A master's degree in library science is almost always required, with a law degree frequently desired. As computers and technology have become increasingly important in library holdings and services, so has this type of technological expertise become valued in applicants for these positions.
     
  • Law Enforcement Officials. While law enforcement has traditionally been associated with local police forces, alternatives have multiplied as such police forces have become more sophisticated in their services and as law enforcement itself has become more broadly defined. The FBI and CIA offer national and international examples, while positions as hearing officers in state and local agencies or human relations specialists provide other options. Some law enforcement training or experience as well as course work in criminal law or criminology is helpful.
     
  • Government Contract Officers. Government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels purchase goods and services. Experience in such procurement and an understanding of and interest in contracts are helpful for public- and private-sector employment in this area.
     
  • Legal Consultants. Consultants, broadly defined, are individuals whose experience and expertise allow them to sell what they know. Law firms and government agencies use consultants to advise them on personnel, training, management, marketing, computer, finance, and client development issues, among others. Extensive experience in one of these areas and high visibility among contacts in firms or agencies seem to be most important for this alternative.
     
  • Legal Trainers. Many state and local bar associations, as well as law schools and for-profit continuing legal education entities, now conduct seminars and training programs for lawyers. A law degree and some background in educational program design are helpful.
     
  • Lobbyists. Frequently employed by trade associations, special interest groups, and consulting firms, lobbyists attempt to influence lawmakers. They may work at the federal or state level and may be involved in a variety of activities, ranging from government affairs to administrative rule making, legislative drafting, and regulatory reform. Experience with a legislative body is helpful. So too is expertise in one or more substantive areas (such as energy, taxation, or foreign affairs) that might be covered by the legislative process.

  1. Legal Jobs
  2. Legal Articles
  3. Attorney
  4. Attorney Career Choices
  5. Changing Careers as an Attorney
  6. Law-Related Career Alternatives

published May 21, 2013

By Author - LawCrossing
( 11 votes, average: 3.7 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.

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