Alternative Legal Careers
Many of our graduates decide not to follow the traditional law school path to employment in private practice. In fact, so many students are choosing alternative careers it may soon be a misnomer to call them “nontraditional.” The fact is that many interesting, challenging, and rewarding job opportunities exist for law graduates outside of the legal field. These are jobs that do not require a law degree, but can be enhanced because of skills learned in law school. Many of the skills learned in law school (analytical skills, advocacy, communication, research, just to name a few) are directly transferable into other professions.
If you are interested in exploring options for post-graduate employment start by reading Deborah Aaron’s well-known book What Can You Do With A Law Degree?, available in the Career Services Office Resource Room 179C. A number of other texts are available as well. Please come to the CSO and browse our collection.
The CSO also subscribes to The Non-Traditional Legal Careers Report which is a collection of job listings for lawyers who want to use their legal education in a non-firm setting. It is updated bi-weekly and provides openings in: business, education, government, the judiciary, legal publishing, policy, law libraries and public interest as well as international positions. Access to this site requires a username and password that is available on the list of Password Protected Websites. You can find this list by accessing the CSO Guides or by contacting Career Services. The Non-Traditional Legal Careers Report, website can be accessed by clicking the following link:
Non-Traditional Legal Careers Report
More websites and tips are available in the Internet Search Guide and in the report below. In addition to these print and on-line resources the CSO hosts a non-traditional legal career week each spring semester. It is a week of lunch-time presentations by law school alumni who are professionals in the community and who have chosen not to use their JD in a firm setting.
Make sure to set up a meeting to talk to Dean Everman about your goals and have her help you formulate a plan. Your resume will change depending on your target audience and this is something you should keep in mind. If you are going to be applying to traditional firms as well as non-traditional employers you may want to develop a number of resumes that you can used depending on the audience.
