# Waht to do with a JD besides practice law? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 25, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waht-to-do-with-a-jd-besides-practice-law/434979 "2008-01-25T17:15:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waht-to-do-with-a-jd-besides-practice-law/434979/21 "2008-01-26T08:00:51Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] In my experience, compliance professionals are usually paralegals, but I suppose it depends what sort of compliance you’re talking about. [/QUOTE] I worked in-house for a couple of years in the legal department of a huge global financial institution (as a paralegal). One of my colleagues in another group was a non-practicing attorney. I don’t know all the particulars of her job, but she vetted marketing materials for compliance with various state and federal laws, but apparently this was not considered to be legal practice _per se._ Also, at my first job after college, I worked at a nonprofit that had a bunch of private, state, and federal refugee resettlement grants. One of the managers was also a nonpracticing attorney, and one of her duties was managing grant compliance. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waht-to-do-with-a-jd-besides-practice-law/434979/22 "2008-01-26T18:00:57Z")
[QUOTE=Ace309] What benefit is being able to do legal research and writing if you’re planning not to produce legal research and writing? [/QUOTE] Her idea is that I would be the employee in the organization (not necessarily limited to a law firm) who _would_ do the legal research and writing, qualified to do so because I have the JD. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waht-to-do-with-a-jd-besides-practice-law/434979.md?page=1)