The default option for graduates after leaving law school is to pass the bar exam and become an attorney. This process, however, takes time. Studying for the bar exam and waiting for the results to come out can eat up months of your time. Even if you do pass the exam, you can’t practice law right away, as you need to pass a fitness and character assessment required by the bar association of your state.
If you failed the required exam or the assessment, don’t fret. You can still pursue other satisfying careers with a law degree. Here are a few options you may want to check out:
Paralegal
This role requires you to help attorneys prepare for their cases. A few of the tasks you’ll be doing regularly include drafting and maintaining documents, reaching out to legal witnesses, and keeping files organized. Given that paralegals do much of the lawyer’s legwork, they need to be well-versed with both the law and the legal processes. You can do well in here by taking up a paralegal online course.
Compliance Officer
A company needs a compliance officer to meet the standards, rules, and regulations set by the government. When you take up this role, you need to make sure that the company you’re working for maintains and implements the required regulatory procedures and policies. The demand for compliance officers is rising, as business owners need constant help in complying with hundreds, if not thousands, of government regulations.
Lecturer
Is teaching students your passion? You can apply as an assistant professor and teach subjects to both graduate and undergraduate students. The main requirement is to follow the curriculum and teach the necessary theories and requirements.
Law Librarian
A legal library contains a comprehensive collection of legal documents, books, and articles to help you better understand how the law works. Judges, attorneys, law graduates, legal clerks, and politicians visit this special library for various purposes, including brushing up on the justice system, reviewing past cases, and studying the precedents established by judges.
This house of law would not exist without a legal librarian. When you assume this role, you need to help library users locate the information they need and take good care of the books and other documents. Apart from working in an actual library, legal librarians have the option to work in the libraries of educational institutions and large law firms.
Legal Writer
You have two choices: Apply as a brief legal writer or a news legal writer. The first option requires you to perform research and produce legal memorandums, briefs, and motions for clients. The second option will ask you to analyze or report on any current law-related issues, such as a political scandal that’s rocking the government, a legal mishap of a major multinational company, or a murder trial of the century.
When you want a job in the legal industry apart from becoming a lawyer, you can choose to become a paralegal, compliance officer, lecturer, law librarian, or legal writer. Your law degree enables you to take on various career directions, which means that you can pick an option that will help you land a fulfilling career that matches your skills and preferences.