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When you start law school (or even before, for those of you that knew you wanted to be lawyers earlier on), questions about your future shift from "What do you want to be when you grow up?" to "What type of law do you want to practice?" This was never an immediately easy question for me to answer - after all, law school does a great job about teaching you some of the basics, but not a lot about specific fields of practice. Additionally, the job market somewhat dictates career availability. I flirted with the idea of family law, banking, transactional business, and for a brief moment, litigation, but never really knew what was right for me.

Ultimately, I took a "try it out" approach, and between summer internships and three seperate jobs during my first five years of practice, I've discovered a lot of different options for career paths as a lawyer both through personal experience and networking. I know not everyone loves to try before they buy with careers and wants to come out of graduation on a set career path, so I thought I'd share some knowledge of things to consider when deciding your career path as a lawyer so that you can start thinking about what would be the best fit for you.

I would break lawyers into five "types" of practice: (a) litigators, (b) transactional attorneys, (c) clerks/legal researchers,  (d) non-traditional attorneys, and (e) in-house counsel,. Each of these types of practicing are so different that they are basically entirely different job types, so I would say knowing which of these types of practice interests you the most is the first consideration you should make.

Litigation

Litigators are what everyone thinks of when they think of lawyers - standing up in the courtroom yelling "I object" and justly getting the verdict their client deserves. Litigators are, as you might expect, attorneys who litigate, meaning they are the attorneys heading to court and participating in trial procedure. Practicing as a litigator means meeting clients, preparing court filings, and attending hearings and trials. These attorneys need to be personable enough to win over clients, judges, and juries; they need to be strong writers so that their court documents such as pleadings, briefs, and motions back up what they say in court; and they need to be willing to always be on the go, back and forth from the court house and the office. I will note, not every day in court is a high-stakes trial - in fact trials are rare. But if you want to practice in court, litigation is the path for you.

Transactional Practice

You know in the movies when you see a hoity-toity business attorney snapping their cell phone shut after successfully closing a multi-million dollar deal for their client? That's a transactional attorney - she's probably never been in a court room but her billable hour rate tells you that she's successful in transactional practice. Transactional attorneys do the type of tasks people need to hire lawyers for without necessarily going to court, like business deals, real estate transactions, estate planning, certain family law matters, employment law, you name it. Transactional attorneys do a lot of their work via drafting documents, so they need to be good writers witha keen attention to detail. They also need to be forward thinkers - one of their biggest tasks is getting thing done the right way so their clients don't have to hire the litigators down the hall to defend them in court. 

Clerking/Legal Research

Many attorneys start out their career in clerking and legal research positions, and move to another career path later, although some people continue their entire career in this path. These jobs generally exist to perform legal research for judges or other attorneys, and may include certain drafting tasks as well such as drafting judicial opionions, memoranda, or pleadings. Jobs in academia would also fit well into this category. These jobs tend to be fairly low-key, with good hours, lower stress, and decent hours. Of course, there are very prestigious clerkships that may be more stressful, but most clerk jobs bring good life balance. The downside is that these jobs don't typically pay as well. Clerks need to enjoy research and writing, and need to be good with creative arguments and problem solving. Clerking and legal research can be very rewarding for a curious legal mind. 

Non-Traditional Lawyers

Non-traditional practice, sometimes referred to a "JD preferred" jobs, are jobs that aren't necessarily practicing law in a traditional sense but benefit from the job-holder having received a legal education. You often find these jobs in banking, compliance, and the insurance industry. This field can be a little bit of the wild west - there's something for everyone with a whole range of pay, stress, workload, and industry. If you would like to get a legal education but are unsure about actually practicing law, this type of practice could be a great fit for you.

In-House Counsel

Finally, in-house counsel are a bit of a combination of all of the types of attorneys above. However, they only have one client who also happens to be their employer. In-house counsel advise the company they work for on day-to-day legal matters, often perform transactional tasks such as business contracting, real estate matters, and employment law, and even usually help coordination of litigation when indicated (although most companies will still hire outside counself for litigation). Like non-traditional practice, there is a whole range of pay, stress, workload, and industry for in-house counsel jobs, but these jobs can be a great fit for someone who wants to do a bit of everything. 

Up Next: My Experience

Personally, I have experience working as a law clerk, transactional attorney, in-house counsel, and even some slight experience in litigation. Each of these fields definitely has their own pros and cons, and I am going to continue making Career Talk posts about my experience in these areas. Stay tuned for future posts to learn more about career options as a lawyer!





Can you believe it? It’s only a little over a month until the July 2020 bar exam! Obviously, this year has been a little bit unconventional with COVID-19 throwing a wrench in the plans of bar examiners everywhere. I know some states have postponed bar exams, offered alternative exams at later date, or granted diploma privilege. Others are carrying on business as usual. Personally, I cannot imagine extending the bar prep period any longer than the end of July. I was SO ready to be done. For those of you taking the July exam, I’m sure you are feeling the same way.

     The good news is, your time studying is almost over forever! Yay! The bad news is that you have to take a gigantic test soon. Yikes! Overall, I’m sure you a feeling a mix of emotions right now. Luckily, you’ve got a month left to get everything in line to ensure your success on the exam. So, without further ado, here is a list of things you should be doing a month before the bar exam!

1. Confirm your travel plans (if applicable)

Do you have to travel to the exam? A lot of people do. The last thing you want to be doing is figuring out travel last minute! Confirm your hotel reservations, plane/bus/train tickets, make sure your car has gotten any required maintenance, etc. Figure out the answer to some questions like, “How am I getting from my hotel to the exam?” and “Is parking available at my test site?” Making sure you have all of this in line will give you peace of mind as you get closer to the test.

2. Read your test site rules/guidelines

I remember that my test site had a big, thick packet of rules we had to follow including what we could/could not bring into the test center, lunchtime rules, arrival times, etc. Take time now to read them through. It may seem early, but it will help to be familiar with the guidelines before test day. You also might discover there is something you need to buy/do before the test day. Do you need to buy a Ziploc bag for your belongings? Do you need a doctor’s note for medications? Regarding COVID-19, do you need a mask? These things are important to know in advance!

3. Do a practice test with test conditions.

Most bar prep courses incorporate a practice test, but try to emulate your test environment as best you can. Make your space quiet, eliminate distractions, only have permitted items near you, and even practice having whatever lunch break your test center will have. This will bring you comfort on test day knowing that in some way, you’ve done this before. Also, as a nice tip for 2020, if your jurisdiction requires masks – take your practice test with a mask on.

4.  Don’t be afraid to change up your study habits if things aren’t working!

With a month left before the exam, you’ve got plenty of time to absorb new material. By this point in the study process, I was starting to notice what study activities did and did not work for me. So I changed up my routine! I doubled down on what was working and eliminated what wasn’t. I attribute most of my exam success to doing this – I listened to my own instincts and learned in the way that was best for me.

5. Take some days off.

Yes, listen to me and do it. As the exam gets closer, you’re going to feel the pressure to not stop studying. That’s normal. I did the same thing. But you’ll get burned out. So make sure to take some time now to reset. Take a full weekend off and hang out with your family or friends. Do something fun. Watch a lot of TV and eat junk food. But don’t run yourself until you can’t take it anymore – that’s not good for your body or brain. So take some days off now and reset.

6. Keep your body healthy – eat well and exercise

If you feel your best, you will perform your best. Simple as that. Make sure you take care of your body in the weeks before the exam. I know it’s easier to just eat junk food and hide in your house all the time, but please don’t. Get outside and exercise, or take a break and go to the gym. You don’t have to eat salad for every meal, but please make sure you are getting vitamins and nutrients in your body during your meals. You want your body to be healthy during the exam, it’ll help you perform better.

7. Be confident!

I think a month before the exam is when I started to have my “I’m going to fail!” breakdowns. Spoiler alert: I didn’t fail. I wasted time doubting myself when I should’ve just been confident. You’ve been studying hard and preparing, doing what you need to do. You’re going to pass, you’re going to do fine. Just be confident.


Today's blog is brought to you by InGenius Prep:

Whether it’s always been your ideal career or it came to you in a dream one night, you’ve decided you want to apply to law school. If you’ve chosen not to take a gap year, balancing your junior and senior years of college along with law school applications could be tough. Of course, the same difficulty applies to a gap year when you might be working a 9-5 job and struggling to find the energy to study for the LSAT.

No matter your situation, knowing important dates and deadlines can help you stay on top of the law school admissions cycle. InGenius Prep has a timeline for law school applications outlined in the following infographic.

- Kayla Kaszyka
 
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