When a lawyer wants a new job...
June 17, 2007 7:08 PM Subscribe
What are some alternative careers for lawyers?
What non-law job could a lawyer with 0-3 years of experience reasonably get and enjoy? A lawyer with 5+ years of experience?
What non-law job could a lawyer with 0-3 years of experience reasonably get and enjoy? A lawyer with 5+ years of experience?
I suggest you go to a career counselor as s/he would be able to give you more personalized information than this random internet forum. The National Board of Certified Counselors has a page for searching for counselors by geographical area (USA only).
posted by Kattullus at 7:26 PM on June 17, 2007
posted by Kattullus at 7:26 PM on June 17, 2007
Just about every industry you could possibly be interested in will have business development folks, where contract development and negotiation is required.
posted by frogan at 7:36 PM on June 17, 2007
posted by frogan at 7:36 PM on June 17, 2007
(foxy, to make a link, you can type in the URL and then highlight it as if you were going to make it bold or italic, and then hit the word "link" that appears just below the comment box.)
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:25 PM on June 17, 2007
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:25 PM on June 17, 2007
Information Technology - business / systems analysis :)
seriously, apart from careers requiring very specific technical skills or professional accreditation, i don't think you really need to have all that much experience of a field to land at least an entry position, and most intelligent managers or recruiters should know that.
you needn't waste too much time thinking how you could use your specific legal skills in some new career. rather, think of the more abstract ones. you would probably have a gift for spoken & written language, an ability to work at both high-level & minute detail, good research skills, analysis & logic, and so on. these are highly prized all over the place. you'd probably also know that approx 50% of law grads never practice law. it's one of the foundations of the classic liberal education, and employers tend to respect it.
that doesn't really answer your question, but i hope it encourages you to think broadly. seconding kattullus, i strongly recommend you see a career consellor - i once had one of these guys once do the most spot-on personality test i've ever experienced, which fed into a whole range of suggested careers for me to consider, many of which would never have occurred to me. really helpful & interesting stuff, considering things like: how much autonomy do you need; do you prefer structured or unstructured environments; stability or reward-for-risk, etc...
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:42 PM on June 17, 2007
seriously, apart from careers requiring very specific technical skills or professional accreditation, i don't think you really need to have all that much experience of a field to land at least an entry position, and most intelligent managers or recruiters should know that.
you needn't waste too much time thinking how you could use your specific legal skills in some new career. rather, think of the more abstract ones. you would probably have a gift for spoken & written language, an ability to work at both high-level & minute detail, good research skills, analysis & logic, and so on. these are highly prized all over the place. you'd probably also know that approx 50% of law grads never practice law. it's one of the foundations of the classic liberal education, and employers tend to respect it.
that doesn't really answer your question, but i hope it encourages you to think broadly. seconding kattullus, i strongly recommend you see a career consellor - i once had one of these guys once do the most spot-on personality test i've ever experienced, which fed into a whole range of suggested careers for me to consider, many of which would never have occurred to me. really helpful & interesting stuff, considering things like: how much autonomy do you need; do you prefer structured or unstructured environments; stability or reward-for-risk, etc...
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:42 PM on June 17, 2007
I have a friend who worked as a writer at West publishing. Apparently they put out a lot of legal textbook type things for law schools, and they employ many lawyers to write and/or edit the content. I'm sure there are opportunities at similar companies, if they're not in your geographic area.
posted by vytae at 8:50 PM on June 17, 2007
posted by vytae at 8:50 PM on June 17, 2007
How far away from the law do you want to get? Do you want to work in the legal profession, but not practice law? Work for a law firm but not be a lawyer? Or do you want to go completely outside the profession and pretty much as far away from the law as possible?
I do want to know the answer to those questions, but I should say that your law school career placement office should have the best resources out there - as an alum you probably have access.
posted by BuddhaBelly at 9:08 PM on June 17, 2007
I do want to know the answer to those questions, but I should say that your law school career placement office should have the best resources out there - as an alum you probably have access.
posted by BuddhaBelly at 9:08 PM on June 17, 2007
What BuddhaBelly said: are you looking for jobs where your JD gives you an advantage, or are you sick of the law entirely? And what the heck do you want to do? And why do you want to leave the law? All of these are relevant questions. It does little good to decide that law is too much work and travel and just end up working 70 hours a week as a McKinsey consultant.
Too: there's 0-3 years experience and 0-3 years experience. That Harvard Law School graduate is going to have an advantage looking for non-law-jobs (perhaps even more so than when looking for law jobs), while the Suffolk Law graduate a few T-stops away might as well not have gone to law school if she's not going to be a lawyer. The lawyer doing complex financial deals for three years will have a better shot at a business career than the one who was handling child-custody cases.
But the list is endless: politics, journalism (especially legal journalism), public policy, consulting, business development, sales, acting, writing, investment banking. Here in DC, there are a ton of twee businesses opened up by ex-lawyers, ranging from Cake Love to the guy on K Street who sells burritos from a vending cart.
posted by commander_cool at 9:34 PM on June 17, 2007
Too: there's 0-3 years experience and 0-3 years experience. That Harvard Law School graduate is going to have an advantage looking for non-law-jobs (perhaps even more so than when looking for law jobs), while the Suffolk Law graduate a few T-stops away might as well not have gone to law school if she's not going to be a lawyer. The lawyer doing complex financial deals for three years will have a better shot at a business career than the one who was handling child-custody cases.
But the list is endless: politics, journalism (especially legal journalism), public policy, consulting, business development, sales, acting, writing, investment banking. Here in DC, there are a ton of twee businesses opened up by ex-lawyers, ranging from Cake Love to the guy on K Street who sells burritos from a vending cart.
posted by commander_cool at 9:34 PM on June 17, 2007
My experience, having worked outside the legal field while having a J.D. and law license, is that the law degree is not the entree into other fields that people make it out to be.
You hear a lot of people say, "Get a law degree -- you can do a million things with a law degree." That's true, but it is omitting to mention that you could do 99% those things without a law degree. And when you take one of those jobs, you will realize that a lot of people you work with will look down on you for not practicing law, and they will suspect you left the legal field because you were not cut out for it. (If you go work somewhere making significantly less than lawyers make on average, the weird comments and weird looks will be even more frequent. In a world where being a lawyer is considered a very desirable career by many, lots of people just assume there's something wrong with you if you're not practicing.)
So, in your situation, wanting to find something for which a law degree makes you suited, you need to examine what precisely it was that made you dislike practicing law. It may be that you dislike all jobs that are especially suitable for someone with legal training.
I think a law degree doesn't open up any special job opportunities outside the legal profession. At best, it equips you to do the sorts of jobs that any person with a good graduate training could do.
posted by jayder at 10:04 PM on June 17, 2007
You hear a lot of people say, "Get a law degree -- you can do a million things with a law degree." That's true, but it is omitting to mention that you could do 99% those things without a law degree. And when you take one of those jobs, you will realize that a lot of people you work with will look down on you for not practicing law, and they will suspect you left the legal field because you were not cut out for it. (If you go work somewhere making significantly less than lawyers make on average, the weird comments and weird looks will be even more frequent. In a world where being a lawyer is considered a very desirable career by many, lots of people just assume there's something wrong with you if you're not practicing.)
So, in your situation, wanting to find something for which a law degree makes you suited, you need to examine what precisely it was that made you dislike practicing law. It may be that you dislike all jobs that are especially suitable for someone with legal training.
I think a law degree doesn't open up any special job opportunities outside the legal profession. At best, it equips you to do the sorts of jobs that any person with a good graduate training could do.
posted by jayder at 10:04 PM on June 17, 2007
You hear a lot of people say, "Get a law degree -- you can do a million things with a law degree." That's true, but it is omitting to mention that you could do 99% those things without a law degree.
So? If the degree is already done - if it's a sunk cost, so to speak - how is this relevant, apart from the fact that having the degree may give you an advantage in the recruitment process?
And when you take one of those jobs, you will realize that a lot of people you work with will look down on you for not practicing law, and they will suspect you left the legal field because you were not cut out for it.
So? If they think so highly of law degrees, you can, in turn, look down on them for not even having one themselves. If you cared, that is.
I think a law degree doesn't open up any special job opportunities outside the legal profession. At best, it equips you to do the sorts of jobs that any person with a good graduate training could do.
That's the whole point. That's exactly what a law degree is. Good graduate training. I kinda wish people would get over this idea that it means you are some kinda intellectual ubermensch, but as long as they have this misconception, you might as well milk it. Personally, I always thought that we had it incredibly easy at uni, in comparison with what is expected of engineering or science students, for example. By far the most difficult thing about a law degree is earning the mark to get in, imho, but people just think I'm trying to be modest why I say that. Quite ironic, really.
posted by UbuRoivas at 10:26 PM on June 17, 2007
So? If the degree is already done - if it's a sunk cost, so to speak - how is this relevant, apart from the fact that having the degree may give you an advantage in the recruitment process?
And when you take one of those jobs, you will realize that a lot of people you work with will look down on you for not practicing law, and they will suspect you left the legal field because you were not cut out for it.
So? If they think so highly of law degrees, you can, in turn, look down on them for not even having one themselves. If you cared, that is.
I think a law degree doesn't open up any special job opportunities outside the legal profession. At best, it equips you to do the sorts of jobs that any person with a good graduate training could do.
That's the whole point. That's exactly what a law degree is. Good graduate training. I kinda wish people would get over this idea that it means you are some kinda intellectual ubermensch, but as long as they have this misconception, you might as well milk it. Personally, I always thought that we had it incredibly easy at uni, in comparison with what is expected of engineering or science students, for example. By far the most difficult thing about a law degree is earning the mark to get in, imho, but people just think I'm trying to be modest why I say that. Quite ironic, really.
posted by UbuRoivas at 10:26 PM on June 17, 2007
A friend of mine who is 4 or so years out of law school just got a job as a lecturer on Business Law at the business school at UT Austin. (I don't know if she will have a tenure-track professorship or if she will have some other title, though.)
posted by puritycontrol at 10:41 PM on June 17, 2007
posted by puritycontrol at 10:41 PM on June 17, 2007
puritycontrol: true. it's a bit of a revolving door, in my observation, between law schools (or schools with law-related content) and law firms. seems like a lot of lawyers feel the need to de-stress after a while in the field, and return to uni for a bit, to do some lecturing and specialist research.
they're obviously quite well-placed to teach, as their experiences will often have required them to keep right up-to-date, and they can offer a refreshing real-world perspective sometimes lacking in career academics.
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:32 PM on June 17, 2007
they're obviously quite well-placed to teach, as their experiences will often have required them to keep right up-to-date, and they can offer a refreshing real-world perspective sometimes lacking in career academics.
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:32 PM on June 17, 2007
So? If the degree is already done - if it's a sunk cost, so to speak - how is this relevant, apart from the fact that having the degree may give you an advantage in the recruitment process?
I guess I was trying to say that I don't think the law degree gives you any special advantage in the recruiting process; indeed, you are saddled with an additional disadvantage, which is the perception that you "couldn't handle" law practice, you're lazy, etc....
posted by jayder at 5:57 AM on June 18, 2007
I guess I was trying to say that I don't think the law degree gives you any special advantage in the recruiting process; indeed, you are saddled with an additional disadvantage, which is the perception that you "couldn't handle" law practice, you're lazy, etc....
posted by jayder at 5:57 AM on June 18, 2007
So? If they think so highly of law degrees, you can, in turn, look down on them for not even having one themselves. If you cared, that is.
I'm not saying you should pay those people much heed, but people with law degrees who are thinking of going into another line of work should be aware that many people in their new career are not going to be "impressed" with the law degree, but will think there's something wrong with the person since they're not practicing law. Yes, that is a dumb thing to think, but it will be there.
Final thought --- it's very important that the person who is wanting to move into a new profession do a deep assessment of what they are interested in, what their marketable skills are, what they disliked about law practice, etc. Asking a wide open question like, "what fields would be good for me with my law degree," is kind of a bad sign, because it suggests that they haven't done the necessary self-assessment, haven't thought it through, and that they may find any career they move into as unsatisfactory to them as law practice was. The answer to the open-ended question is, "Just about anything (after all, what complex fields don't require good analytical and communication skills?)" but that doesn't give the questioner much guidance.
posted by jayder at 6:06 AM on June 18, 2007
I'm not saying you should pay those people much heed, but people with law degrees who are thinking of going into another line of work should be aware that many people in their new career are not going to be "impressed" with the law degree, but will think there's something wrong with the person since they're not practicing law. Yes, that is a dumb thing to think, but it will be there.
Final thought --- it's very important that the person who is wanting to move into a new profession do a deep assessment of what they are interested in, what their marketable skills are, what they disliked about law practice, etc. Asking a wide open question like, "what fields would be good for me with my law degree," is kind of a bad sign, because it suggests that they haven't done the necessary self-assessment, haven't thought it through, and that they may find any career they move into as unsatisfactory to them as law practice was. The answer to the open-ended question is, "Just about anything (after all, what complex fields don't require good analytical and communication skills?)" but that doesn't give the questioner much guidance.
posted by jayder at 6:06 AM on June 18, 2007
it's very important that the person who is wanting to move into a new profession do a deep assessment of what they are interested in, what their marketable skills are, what they disliked about law practice, etc.
absolutely. so, i repeat the suggestion to see a career guidance counsellor, who should be armed with suitable personality tests to suggest possible alternate careers - a lot of it to do with things like how much you like to set your own schedules & priorities, be rewarded for performance or receive a regular paycheck, explore uncharted territories or stick to somebody else's map, deal with detail or the bigger picture, interact with others or work on your own, those kinds of things.
whether or not a role suits your personality is, i think, more important to your enjoyment of work than a simple question of whether or not the field appears (from the outside) to be interesting to you. repetitive work in even the most otherwise interesting field would drive me totally up the wall, for example.
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:32 AM on June 18, 2007
absolutely. so, i repeat the suggestion to see a career guidance counsellor, who should be armed with suitable personality tests to suggest possible alternate careers - a lot of it to do with things like how much you like to set your own schedules & priorities, be rewarded for performance or receive a regular paycheck, explore uncharted territories or stick to somebody else's map, deal with detail or the bigger picture, interact with others or work on your own, those kinds of things.
whether or not a role suits your personality is, i think, more important to your enjoyment of work than a simple question of whether or not the field appears (from the outside) to be interesting to you. repetitive work in even the most otherwise interesting field would drive me totally up the wall, for example.
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:32 AM on June 18, 2007
Law librarian? (Most likely requires MLS in addition to JD.) And be prepared to make a lot less $$.
posted by scratch at 6:38 AM on June 18, 2007
posted by scratch at 6:38 AM on June 18, 2007
UT-Austin has the Tarlton Fellowship - for JDs who want to pursue law librarianship. You work at the UT law library, you get grant money, and discounted tuition for your MLS degree.
posted by candyland at 6:54 AM on June 18, 2007
posted by candyland at 6:54 AM on June 18, 2007
Policy. Works a lot like law (details, research, data crunch, specific word meanings matter contextually). Every organization is filled with policy and related beasts (policy manuals, training, research/development, complaints processes etc). Orgs are often desperate for someone to deal with these tasks, which get swept under the carpet and fester.
posted by kch at 8:13 AM on June 18, 2007
posted by kch at 8:13 AM on June 18, 2007
I think you might want to check out this thread as well.
posted by BuddhaBelly at 12:13 PM on June 18, 2007
posted by BuddhaBelly at 12:13 PM on June 18, 2007
Every organization is filled with policy and related beasts (policy manuals, training, research/development, complaints processes etc). Orgs are often desperate for someone to deal with these tasks, which get swept under the carpet and fester.
You forgot ISO 9001 consultant, or similar. Regular people can't stand all that quasi-legalistic framework and avoid such Quality Manager roles like the plague, but they're perfectly suited to lawyerly types: all framework, processes, policies, procedures & work instructions - authoritative, documented statements of how-things-must-be-done.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:36 PM on June 18, 2007
You forgot ISO 9001 consultant, or similar. Regular people can't stand all that quasi-legalistic framework and avoid such Quality Manager roles like the plague, but they're perfectly suited to lawyerly types: all framework, processes, policies, procedures & work instructions - authoritative, documented statements of how-things-must-be-done.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:36 PM on June 18, 2007
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This thread is closed to new comments.
http://ask.metafilter.com/62287/Help-a-lawyer-find-happiness.
And this:
http://ask.metafilter.com/31110/Why-do-I-feel-in-a-career-tundra.
and also a couple of posts under my handle. Sorry I'm not more adept at placing direct links.
posted by notjustfoxybrown at 7:14 PM on June 17, 2007