Are you a qualified lawyer? Perhaps you’ve completed the requisite in-person or online law courses, and you’ve been practising for a few years. You might be quite experienced with the legal sector, having worked in defence, prosecution, commercial litigation or more. But what if you feel it’s time to look for a career alternative? For some lawyers, there is a limited lifespan to their legal careers due to the long hours, demanding work and high-stress environment. But what viable career alternatives are there for legal professionals? This informative and helpful article will share some for you to consider, so continue reading to learn more.
Work for Legal Aid
Chances are your state or local authority has a legal assistance organisation or legal aid service. This service is usually provided for people who can’t afford to hire their own private legal representation. These services are always looking for staff, and not just for lawyer roles either. Often, there will be a variety of roles, from administrative to other fields, to help keep the place running. A legal background, with your knowledge and skills, may be easily transferable to a legal assistance setting.
Non Profit
Various non-profit organisations are usually looking for staff, and as a lawyer, you’ll have a valuable skill set that can easily be transferred to this setting. You could work for a charity, healthcare non-profit, mental health organisation or a range of other places. This can be an excellent change of pace from a private law setting, as you’ll be actively working to make a difference in people’s lives rather than driving partner profits and focusing on billable hours.
Launch a Business
Another potential career alternative is to launch your own business. Is there something you’re particularly passionate about in your personal life? You could be a pet-mad, a gym addict, or really into board games. In this case, you could launch a pet supplies line, a supplement store, a board game cafe or a retail outlet. If there is a demand for a product or service you could provide, and you can figure out a unique selling proposition that the competition lacks, you could use your ability for hard work to run a business. The legal knowledge would also come in handy when it comes to various factors of commerce, too.
Human Resources
If you’re knowledgeable about industrial legislation, which has everything to do with hiring, firing, retaining and recruiting staff, a viable career alternative could be as a human resources manager or business partner. You can advise businesses or other entities on the best approach to dealing with their staff. HR management roles can be very well paid as well, so you may not have to sacrifice the income level you’re comfortable with for this career transition.
A Sales Job
Sales is a career pathway that can let an ex-lawyer work in a role that focuses heavily on flexibility and working closely with clients and customers. Contract negotiation is also an essential element of sales, so prior legal skills could help you centre the business's interests while maintaining positive relationships with clients and closing on a sale for a product or service they want.
Former lawyers can work in sales roles for a variety of products, but it might be a wise move to look for a job selling legal services and products, such as filing, case notes software, legal technology or case management tools. While working in this specific field, you can collaborate with other experienced lawyers, solicitors and financial experts.
Become a Legal Writer
Consider transitioning into a new career pathway as a legal writer. A legal writer uses their expert knowledge of the legal system to write documents for a variety of uses. For example, you could write contracts, legal correspondences, memos, court briefs, business documents or even informational materials like blog posts. Legal opinion pieces and articles could also get published in legal-focused newspapers and magazines.
Work as a Legal Consultant
Working as a legal consultant is an excellent opportunity for a lawyer to remain in the legal field without working specifically as a lawyer. With your knowledge, you could start your own consulting business or work for a consulting firm to provide clients with useful information, suggestions and advice about their cases and other legal matters. In the role of a legal consultant, a former lawyer usually offers guidance to clients, which allows you to have increased flexibility in your job and often work on a short-term or contractual basis. The pay is excellent as well.
Transition to Journalism
Working as a journalist is a role that could be a natural transition for a former lawyer due to your previous experience with writing and investigation. Lawyers usually have exceptional investigative and interviewing skills, and you can use these talents to report for a publication, such as a magazine, newspaper or digital publication. There are also heaps of different opportunities to freelance as a journalist, which can provide flexibility and chances to write about subjects that you’re interested in.
A Career Conclusion
This helpful article has shared a few key career transition opportunities for lawyers to consider if they’re thinking about making a change of pace. From legal assistance admin to journalism and a few others, you’ve got a few options to consider now.
