Is there anyone on the straight dope who has any advice? I didn’t go to a law school with a super strong reputation but I got good grades. I never got a job in law school…it just didn’t happen so I “clerked” for my family’s small business in the summers doing really nothing law related just for the hope that it would eventually look like I did something on my resume when I got out of school. There just were no firms hiring clerks during the recession and the week recovery. Hardly any.
For what it’s worth I also served in the Navy Reserve.
I apply for non-law jobs all the time. For example I applied to be a personal banker at a chase bank. Every time I apply for a non-legal job, the employer acts like they’re super-impressed with my resume, afraid I’ll leave for the first law job that comes available (as if that were even a remote possibility) and I do not get hired.
Every legal job (few and far between) that gets posted is looking for at least 2-3 years of experience.
I could start my own firm I suppose but honestly I don’t feel as if I’m competent enough to do it without the backup of a seasoned practitioner.
I just want a firm to hire me and train me. I’m willing to work for minimum wage and no health benefits.
Anyone have any advice?
I’m drowning in debt going between odd job to odd job. I’ve got cavities and need to get to the dentist, my gf is going to leave me. I don’t know what to do.
“I could start my own firm I suppose but honestly I don’t feel as if I’m competent enough to do it without the backup of a seasoned practitioner.”
The main activity in the practice of law is going from not knowing a piece of legal info to knowing it. Your main job is to become competent on a particular point. Once you have, it’s gravy whenever you encounter a similar case.
It’s scary at first because you don’t have many experiences of successfully doing it.
Take simple cases at first and try to concentrate on the same kind of cases.
Perhaps you can join up with another lawyer in a similar situation and bounce ideas off each other? It’s not as good as a seasoned practioner but I’m not sure you’ll have much luck being trained.
What state are you in/Where are you licensed? What state did you go to law school in?
Are you living in a city, suburb, small town, rural location?
How Cooley-fied was your law school. I.e., was is USNWR’s top 100, or T3/T4? If 100 or greater, around what number (you can give the decade (e.g., “in the 40s”), if you don’t want to be too revealing).
I’d recommend being focusing on/moving to large cities (NYC, LA, DC, Chicago, SF). Yes, they are expensive and there is lots of competition, but these are all where there are the most lawyer jobs.
I know some JAGs as well, and they all seem to like the gig. So, it might be worth investigating that route as well.
Are you familiar with http://jdunderground.com ? It’s a forum focused on the problem of unemployed JDs. There are some trollish people there, but also a lot of people who either have been in the same situation or at least would be sympathetic and have some advice for you. Unfortunately your situation is not at all uncommon these days. There are just too many law schools putting out too many grads these days.
You’re in a tough situation but not an insurmountable one. Clerk wherever you can just to get experience. Think about opening your own firm and takin relatively easy matters like traffic violations and simple criminal matters.
The job market for lawyers is horrible. I’ve got 17 years experience. Lost my job with a non-profit legal aid-type program last fall after budget cuts forced the program to downsize, and I’ve been looking hard ever since. I finally gave up, and I’m hanging my own shingle. I expect to sign a lease for office space on Monday, and be open for business later in the week.
For the OP, all I can suggest is keep trying…and don’t target only law firms. Look into judicial clerkships, government jobs–as a veteran you get some degree of preference for those. Child Support agencies typically have fairly high turnover for lawyers. Look at non-profits. Most programs funded by Legal Services Corporation have taken severe budget hits, but there are a few of those jobs out there in some states.
Also, look into what it takes to become certified as a Guardian ad Litem in your state. Get the certification, and hang out at the courthouse passing out cards, meeting judges, and letting anyone who will listen know you’ll take GAL appointments. I’ll be doing the same thing in my area to drum up business…
[del]Insert lawyer joke here[/del]
Good luck. I hope you land something soon. A big city like LA or NY will probably be more productive than a small town.
If you’ve been called to the bar (however it happens in your jurisdiction), then you are a lawyer.
Look for your niche. For example, I do a lot of work, paid for by Legal Aid, for inmates at the local jail. They’ve been accused of breaking the house rules, and they are entitled to representation in the in-house hearings, so I go in and represent them. Constitutional law comes into play, as well as administrative law. Still, most local lawyers won’t touch this stuff, but I love it. Although I have private clients, my jailhouse practice is my niche.
You don’t necessarily need to be with a law firm–you can be your own. (Check, though, with your bar association as to just how.) But once you’ve decided on how you’re going to practice, and what matters you will deal with, you can move forward.
Look into a virtual office instead of actually leasing commercial space.
Look at joining the ARAG and Hyatt Legal insurance plans as a panel attorney. They don’t pay we’ll but its something. They usually refer fairly routine stuff so learn as you go. no sure what the minimum qualifications are other than having malpractice insurance.
Call up the local courthouse and volunteer your time as a research attorney in the law and motion department, or for court in general if they don’t have a law and motion department. Four months of that will make you very employable, and the judges will help you get a government job if a firm doesn’t snap you up. Go with the gov job.
Just saw you made a reference to being in Ohio. Apply with Lexis-Nexis. They hire lots of JDs in various roles–customer service, sales, etc. I worked for them around 2000. It’s a good company.
Look for pro bono work. Volunteer to give legal advice at some shelter or someplace similar. Attend court your local jurisdiction and speak with staff and counsel when you can.Write articles on current legal issues for your local newspaper. Socialize with colleagues whenever you can. The point is, get noticed, be seen, make connections. In this profession, it’s not what you know, but who you know.
When I interviewed with firms, I was offered several positions.
But it was not based on my GPA. In fact, prospective employers cared almost nothing about my grades in school.
It was based almost entirely on how they thought I would fit it with the rest of their staff.
What is your verbal English like? Do you speak with a heavy foreign accent of any kind? If you do, it will be much more difficult for you to find work. Employers are generally not interested in having to struggle to communicate with their employees and worry how clients will react to them.
There are several other personal traits that employers will not like and will be very unlikely to hire you.
Do you have any obvious physical problems such as a “hair lip” or anything like that? I remember one person who came to interview for a job. He had a “hair lip” and no firm would hire him. Eventually, he had to start his own firm and today he is very successful.
My suggestion is to find someone with enough money that they will lend you enough so that you can buy into an existing firm.
IMO, starting your own firm for a new lawyer with no experience is a terrible idea because you will get beaten badly by other lawyers who have experienced lawyers backing them up.
Are you in Columbus? If so, or even if not, the CBA has a not-very-well-publicized new lawyer incubator program. One of our former clerks is in it now and it sounds really cool. They give you office space and mentors, help you get on court appoint lists, things like that.
