What jobs meet this criteria? Snowflake details inside

April 14, 2022 8:26 PM

I had a conversation with someone today about how many jobs in the legal profession have gone permanently remote after Covid. It made me curious about the following: If one were a lawyer (with a focus on contract law and property), what kinds of jobs might they seek out that would make use of their legal expertise but that weren't necessarily "lawyer" jobs? Specifically, what jobs might they do if their priority was to a) work in-person with a team of other humans and b) have as little to do with email as possible?
posted by virve to Work & Money (9 answers total)

Just to clarify, are you asking about a situation where you are kept informed via in person meetings and printed memos as opposed to emails, or are you asking about jobs that have client work flows primarily routed through chat and messaging platforms like Legal Zoom or Rocket Lawyer?
posted by ananci at 8:48 PM on April 14, 2022

Response by poster: More like -- is there a type of job where one can use legal expertise requires as little digital interaction as possible, and as much in-person communication or collaboration as possible. Jobs I can think of that are people-focused are all like different kinds of medical professionals or educators or tour guides etc. -- but is there a job like that, that would not occur to me, that would suit someone with a law degree?
posted by virve at 9:54 PM on April 14, 2022

Not really. Lawyers are really paper monkeys I think - some spend a lot of time on the phone though.

Depends how far away from lawyer you want to get, but there are for example walk-in legal clinics for one-time advice that would involve little digital interaction. They don't tend to focus on contract law or property though.

It's tough with contract and property, since those are so paper oriented, and all paper is digital now. Public legal education seems like a good area. I also know a lawyer who now has a very broad start-up role including sales calls, but I think that is very emails also.
posted by lookoutbelow at 11:46 PM on April 14, 2022 [1 favorite]

A palomino started in science, trained as a patent lawyer and was for several years the intellectual property goto at a [UK] university. Universities are trying to monetize their creatives and that job could require a lot of face-time trying to broker deals with employees and industry.
posted by BobTheScientist at 12:05 AM on April 15, 2022

I dont know about jobs, but as far as employers go, I think one of the companies that owns and manages large real estate projects could be a good fit. I'm thinking office parks mostly, but there's variety. A problem coul be that, if they want you at all, it's as a lawyer.
posted by SemiSalt at 5:15 AM on April 15, 2022

Potentially some sort of compliance or consulting. Not sure how much of this is in-person these days due to the pandemic. Also not sure what the options are based on your background but food and beverage and liquor license compliance for bars and restaurants might be one example.
posted by forkisbetter at 5:51 AM on April 15, 2022

Maybe work for a housing nonprofit on housing policy?
posted by pinochiette at 6:36 AM on April 15, 2022

Mediation. A lot of those are taking place virtually at the moment but things are returning to in person, and while there is still a fair amount of email and paper pushing, it's a pretty interactive process.

Same for training - I do a ton of training for employers and it's all in person.

I mean, actually, my current job is virtual, but I spend almost all day on the phone or in zoom meetings - I have less email than I have ever had before and I almost never have to write anything. It's just constant advice and consulting, with the occasional contract review.
posted by dpx.mfx at 7:45 AM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

If your priorities are solely about in person interaction and not being constantly on a computer, Legal Aid. Most of your clients won't have computers, and most courts for poor people are back in person (because we don't care about the health of poor people very much, so we've brought back criminal and landlord/tenant court in person, but kept high dollar civil courts and most appeals remote). And other than the usual amount of email that anyone with a white collar job has to do, it's mostly court, mediations, and legal research/writing. The pay usually sucks and it's incredibly stressful, and you have to actually want to do this kind of work, but it fits your criteria, and more people should consider it.
posted by decathecting at 3:43 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]