“You can do anything with a law degree!” Any aspiring student planning to graduate in law has most likely come across a variant of this legendary phrase, promising a full case of career prospects upon completion of this degree. This is a fact that several law professionals and recruiters would attest. But it is not quite glorious as they promise neither is it very bleak.

Be it a student who is trying to choose a college major after completing their secondary-school, or is a fresh graduate from a law school, ‘what next?’ is a question that wonders all equally. Below mentioned points is a mere attempt to answer such an exclusive question.  In spite of exploring the career graph of a lawyer, it answers questions about the possibilities and the opportunities lying ahead for those pursuing legal studies and also for those who have already graduated.

The Classic Choices in Legal Sector

Generally, law graduates begin their legal careers in junior positions, in spite of whether or not they have completed their graduation. Whereas there is wide selection of careers in law that one can pursue once they have gained enough expertise. The typical junior roles can vary with the increase in experience and the amount of direct involvement they have with law proceedings. Some of the junior legal jobs include court legal advisor, calendaring clerk, legal transcriptionist, mailroom clerk, court clerk, file clerk, legislative assistant, document coder, junior barrister’s clerk, and paralegal or hybrid paralegal.

Alternatively, students can benefit from the comparatively new field of legal apprenticeships that involves enterprise coaching at a law firm instead of studying in a university. Typically, however, legal career hopefuls complete graduation in law and undertake “articling”, a placement with a law firm, operating as trainee attorney, judicial clerk or associate, articled clerk.

The Career Outlook of a US Attorney

In the US, law graduates (students who have completed the postgraduate-level Juris Doctorate) can start procedures to achieve admittance to the bar, which can permit them to become active attorneys. Students wishing to pursue a legal career in federal courts or the Supreme Court of the US will have to pass the admission necessities, as well as pay fee and take a spoken or written oath. Once the procedure is completed the attorneys can proceed from state supreme courts to the federal courts.

Other  legal jobs within US embody outside counsel at law firms, in-house counsel within a company’s  legal department, prosecutors within the district attorney , litigator attorneys, defense attorneys, workers attorneys, litigators who advise clients in and out of court, trial attorneys, legal proceeding attorneys who argue the law and corporate attorneys who rarely got to court.

Further legal careers in US also include serving at Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps as a military lawyer or as a patent lawyer. However, to serve in this position one needs to attain special permission from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).  Once the permission is granted they can also serve as an examiner or designer, agent, and clerk within the Intellectual Property Law.

Alternate Law Careers

Alternative legal careers embrace roles that are benefitted from the information and skills gained by the students from the law school. The careers include teaching law, becoming a tutor at legal trainee program, turning into a legal career advisor/consultant at law school, turning into a seamless Continuing Legal Education (CLE) specialist, writing for law journals and magazines, operating within the administration department of a law school, recruiting as a head-hunter for legal jobs, legal analyst, applying to the Law Commission’s recruitment campaign for a research assistant position, and legal clearance officer.

Further law-related jobs involve a variety of careers that need collaboration with lawyers. Such legal careers are operating as a pre-trial services officer; as associate asylum officer or customs officer; working in prisons; operating as a legislative associate; operating within the trust department of banks; becoming  a civil/immigration rights analyst, lobbyist, conflicts analyst or public interest advocate; turning into a compliance officer, a victim compensation officer, or law-makers affairs specialist; operating in government, civil authority or political positions; and turning into a diplomat or going into negotiation.

People with legal expertise are in demand in most walks of life and the career opportunities lying ahead of them do not end here. Legal jobs in courtrooms, law firms, businesses, and other non-law careers, etc. the list goes on. There is no denying to the fact that a career as a lawyer is exciting but it is equally challenging