You might have heard that a law degree can get you anything, and that's about true. There are a number of successful attorneys. If you're one of them, good job. For the many students who are looking into a law-related career, you might be surprised to know that you don't "have to" be an attorney. For seasoned practitioners looking for a change, you may also greet this news with open arms.
Personal Injury Attorney
There are several personal injury cases each year. As such, you find a car accident attorney, an elder abuse attorney or a slip and fall attorney, amongst many others. A large number of firms practice various areas of law that fall underneath personal injury. However, graduates can get into family law, contract law and many other areas of law as well.
Patient's Advocate
A patient advocate is relatively new, but it's taking off. It's not uncommon for someone working within one of these positions to charge $150 and up per hour. Someone with a law degree and a bit of elder abuse or medical malpractice background could work as a patient's advocate. A patient advocate helps assist patients to understand their patient's rights, regulations and policies and procedures that affect their care and treatment, their medical bills, and they can help to monitor the patient to ensure they receive proper care and treatment while at a facility.
Mediator
Negotiation and conflict resolution are becoming an ever-popular alternative solution to court. Many courts are backed up, and mediation helps courts from becoming backlogged. Also, mediation presents a more amicable way for parties to work out their disagreements. Amongst the many job duties of a mediator, they help parties to solve problems, they do not give out legal advice, they remain neutral between parties, create a comfortable environment, they do not give court orders, and they do not suggest solutions. They are simply the go-between to help both parties reach a solution both are happy with.
Professor
A number of professors teaching on law have law degrees. Being a lawyer, while thrilling, can also mean constant stress from dealing with hard deadlines. It's wonderful to use what you know in a relaxed and controlled environment. You can fully appreciate the logic of case law and other aspects of law with teaching. It's also satisfying to pass on knowledge to students and see them get that "aha" moment.
Writer
Some former lawyers, who get into freelance writing, end up writing for other lawyers. They typically write marketing and informative online content, but they also can assist with case-related work. Unsurprisingly, law degree holders have strong writing skills. They are quick to pin-point valuable information and deliver content in a timely manner. People can work from the comfort of their homes, working remotely on law-related content and make a decent living from it.
Some former lawyers have become fictional writers and use their information on law for crime-related thrillers. If you have a passion for fictional writing, a law degree can assist you with this as well. If you're a strong writer, you could write a novel in as little as 10 months. That amounts to roughly 450 hours of writing, if you're a quick writer.
HR
As HR deals partially in understanding rules and regulations and how they apply to the workplace, those with a law degree are suitable candidates for HR. HR managers are also responsible for representing their company at hearings. Amongst the many qualities an HR manager or director needs, they assess potential job candidates, meet hard deadlines, evaluate employee relations and have excellent organizational skills. It's no mistake that a person who has a law degree is naturally inclined for a position of an HR director or manager.
Chief Operating Officer
The COO wears many hats. These hats can cover HR, legal, financial and business strategy issues. At a minimum, the COO is responsible for ensuring that a company is operating efficiently in whatever that entails. This means that the COO must be a natural leader, can think of and carry out difficult decisions and serve as the glue for the entire company.
Chief Financing Officer
It can seem odd that a law degree would relate to a career in finances, but you have to understand that you will be working with a team that focuses on the financial aspects of a business. The CFO needs to ensure the financial well-being of a company. You will be working with bookkeepers and others who can crunch the numbers. Some of the job duties between the COO and the CFO overlap in smaller companies.
Politics
You don't have to have a law degree to become a politician, but it certainly doesn't hurt. A lot of past presidents and other politicians law degrees. For instance, Presidents Barack Obama and George Clinton both have law degrees. Many people are surprised to know that being an attorney requires strong social skills in addition to having strong persuasive skills. Lawyers have to cut deals with opposing parties all the time. Politicians must have an accurate understanding of law and how the government works. It's no surprise that lawyers make excellent politicians.
To let you in on a little secret: You can be anything you want to be. Even if it seems like the career you want is polar-opposite to your law degree, you may find you possess all of the qualities the job duties require. At the end of the day, it's all about how you market yourself. If you can show them you have what it takes, you'll be hired. You already proved you could get a law degree, which was no easy feat. You can land your desired job too.
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