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Related Discussions
What Kind of Job Can I Obtain at a Firm Pre-Law School?
TexAgAaron
Alum Member
So I have been pondering trying to obtain a low level, entry position in a law firm before I actually go to law school in 2018. I don't really have any experience in a firm and would like to gain that experience so I have a better understanding of how firms flow. This on top of trying to narrow down possible types of law I would like to pursue.
I don't really know what kind of position I can obtain without a J.D. so I'm curious what kind of firm jobs people have gotten (and the pay you received if you don't mind sharing; I have bills to pay haha). I do have my bachelor's in political science and just finished the CC so I feel like I have a bit more flexibility to do this now.
I would love to hear y'all's thoughts and experiences! Thanks and Gig'em!!!
Comments
While I haven't worked at a firm, I think most of the answers here are going to be paralegal and legal assistant. Some will say something along the lines of "clerkship" but at this level, really that is just a glorified paralegal with a different title. Most of these jobs can run anywhere from $9hr - $20hr depending on location and work experience.
In addition to these two jobs, I applied to be an investigator at a law firm and I made it to the final interview. Though I didn't get the job, I believe I was being strongly considered for the position as I made it to the second interview and all the way up until salary negotiations. So this is a possibility, but from what I have seen, it is pretty uncommon.
I'm fairly certain these are the only positions which would be available to someone without a JD. Maybe something like 'legal secretary' but I feel like that is just a subset of legal assistant.
My friend, your journey has just begun!
Thanks! That is what I'm seeing so far. I don't really have any experience (I worked as a server through undergrad to pay bills so I wasn't in position to intern).
Oh I know haha! Just where I'm at now is a bit more friendly for a job like this.
Uh not many opportunities, depends on your networking skills. Could probably do some paralegal stuff but most offices look for people with a paralegal certificate for that. Can always tell the lawyer/firm your looking to shadow and eventually plan on going to law school. They may hire you on minimum wage to push some papers around or answer phone calls. Different areas of law. Can always check into real estate law direction / title insurance companies. It's big business.
Pay is ok - Usually $14 to $21 an hour, Curative title work can give you good experience dealing with business transactions, deeds, trusts, divorce, death and llc/business incorporations. Check it out!
Thanks @Colin1485 I appreciate it! I'm going to invest a bit more time into to my alumni network. It seems like that will be the main way to land something; most job postings require experience.
I'm currently a legal assistant at a big law firm right now, but it's more of an administrative job than a legal one because I work for corporate lawyers. I get paid pretty well (in $20-23/hr range) and I also don't have to work crazy hours.
You'd likely get much more hands-on experience if you were to work for a smaller law firm or for a litigation attorney since you'd have to take care of court filings and such. I'm not sure where you live, but there are plenty of entry-level law firm jobs in Southern California such as litigation specialists, legal secretaries, receptionists, expert/witness coordinators, admins, etc.
Right now, I'm working as a legal assistant at a Criminal Defense firm. The pay isn't great but the experiences are extremely valuable. As a result of getting this job, my network has expanded tremendously. As far as responsibilities go, I file documents in court, help clients schedule office visits, and draft documents. Hope this helps!
@cvo1 @LKmusic91 How did y'all obtain those jobs? Did you already have experience?
@akeegs92 I had zero experience in the legal profession, but I expressed my interest through my extracurriculars, because I joined a law fellows program and the undergrad law journal in college. I'm also really lucky in that I live in LA, where there are a lot of big law firms in Downtown LA and a lot of boutique firms in Century City.
I managed to get the job I have now by obsessively applying to every legal position I could find on Craigslist and Indeed. I eventually got recruited by this legal recruiting firm because I applied to one of their postings, but I didn't get that specific job. They still thought I had a lot of potential, so they ended up doing most of the heavy lifting for me by sending my resume and cover letter to their business clients. I interviewed with the first firm that expressed interest, nailed all three rounds of interviews, and got the job in less than a week. Feel free to message me if you have any questions regarding resumes, cover letters, and the like. I'm aware that my job search was much easier than usual in that I got REALLY lucky by being at the right place at the right time, but I'm always happy to help.
I work as a legal assistant at a smaller firm and by the time I will apply for law school, I will have worked there for two years while in undergrad. They are really understanding with my school schedule, but I manage to crank out around 20-25 hours there a week. When I decided that I wanted a part time job more so in the field that I wanted to go into, I STALKED the job postings my school supplies every. day. I can't even remember how many I applied for with 0 legal experience. However, I found a firm that hired me as a file clerk. Then I got promoted to head file manager. Then promoted to a legal assistant. For me, it's been nicer in a smaller firm because they see work ethic and desire to learn and advance.
I know a guy from high school who found a job as "intern" at a very small public defense attorney's office. He had no experience with law but expressed his interest in the field and said he was going to be applying for law school and just wanted to learn whatever he could about the field. I'm fairly certain he was making minimum wage, but he met a bunch of people he wouldn't have otherwise. While he was working there he made a really strong connection with a judge and is now working with him over summers while attending LS. Might be worth a phone call to all the small firms in your area.
Network out and reach out to some smaller firms in your area and see if they need a clerk (someone to file, email, phones, faxing, etc) You learn a lot and can make a good amount of money at the right place.
If you have your B.A. you can become a paralegal at a larger firm or smaller firm. They aren't the easiest gigs to get, but I know of people who have just a B.A and who are paralegals are top NYC firms.
Put your feelers out and update your resume, cover letter, and get some references together.
It can take a while to find one of these gigs, but I bet if you keep hammering away you can get something. The only thing is that I've hears of people being dinged because they offer the fact upfront that they are planning on law school within the next year. The consider cost of training and re-training someone else this time next year... So you may want to withhold that information at your discretion.
well im a full time paralegal, pay is not bad, but being around attorneys motivates you to go after law school, the goal is law school at night so i can keep this job, NY has a law that after completed one year of law school, an attorney can basically sign for you so you can already start practicing. so basically going to night school will take 4 years, but i'll be practicing law after 1, i'll have 3 years of experience when i graduate, and 5 years of office experience.
Plus, i do a lot here, im learning a lot, basically all the Bps, affidavits, summons, complaints, OSC, RPJ,D&D etc etc I do, so if you can get a good paralegal job, with an attorney that will help you learn, and be understanding about night classes, go for it, hell i even stay in the office studyin since its quiet and studying at home has too many distractions( hot wife and cute ass dog).
That sounds awesome! Did they guarantee you a position after you finish? Did you manage to negotiate them paying for school if you stay on for x years after graduation?
@Mellow_Z a position was offered if i stay, but i work in NY and im planning to go to Uconn law in CT, since I served the army while living in NY, i get tuition waived for state schools, so if i can manage to get a decent lsat score my 4 years of law school a Uconn will come out to just the fees, so about 9k for all 4 years. so even with them not paying my school, as long as I can get in i think i'll be ok lol.
If you cannot get into a law firm I would also start looking at places where a law degree can be extremely beneficial or where lawyers go when they're "done practicing". I currently work for a global investigations firm and the work we do is amazing. I'm surrounded by lawyers everyday but they're just not practicing, they're now on the investigative side. We do not provide counsel but rather report on our findings on due diligence cases, asset searchs, traditional investigations, white collar crime investigations, etc. At these types of places you can also make a case for them providing funds for your schooling (I'm in the process of doing that right now). Since I worked in politics, I have a great network in Philly but working here has also opened up my network to previous senior ranked military officials, the intelligence community, previous Obama admin. and so forth... definitely expand your options if you can't find a law firm to take you in! There are MANY benefits of other places
I plan on staying in Philly and going to one of the law schools here. Like @"theLSATdreamer " I plan on going at night time as well.
Wow! Thanks for all of the amazing responses @"Alex Divine" @"theLSATdreamer " @tcookPHL @Mellow_Z @cvo1 @LKmusic91 ! I glad to see that there are quite a few options. I will say I am concerned a bit about being dinged for the fact that I plan to attend law school in a year like @"Alex Divine" mentioned. But I will definitely starting digging in; its much more beneficial than serving at a restaurant to just pay the bills.
I know its a bit of luck but I'll start with my alumni network and see where that leads me. I have a few cards of some alumni attorneys so hopefully I can contact them and at least shadow them. Thanks again for all the great responses!
I think this is all a great idea! You'll find something man. As I've said before, really dig into your network. Alumni, friends, family, random dudes.... Serendipity is always a random conversation away
Network, network, network.... I quit my career-job in October of 2015(post undergrad.. not really relevant to law, thus "job") and it took a full 12 months of applying and hunting around before I got through to a legal assistant position. Of course, in that 12 month gap, I took another full time job to keep the lights on but it was worth it. Someone above mentioned going through a recruiting firm; I highly recommend updating your Linkedin and actively hunting through there as well.
I play a lot of recreational tennis and ended up getting an interview with a firm from one of they guys I play with... but I'm a firm believer that all the steps I took to that and diligently applying turned into that serendipitous opportunity.
Hi!
Can't believe I missed this but it's definitely possible right out of undergrad. For me, it actually wasn't about the network as much as crafting my experiences to demonstrate both an interest and an ability to work in biglaw. I worked at a pretty good big firm in an area with a pretty strong legal sector and getting the job really came to down to interviewing skills and prior experiences. Though I don't work there anymore, I feel that my internships, is what really got me in the door.
I'll be happy to provide more details via PM
@akeegs92 I didn't have any legal experience before the job I have now.
@akeegs92 I've been working in law firms since 07 and you really don't need any experience, it just depends on the company. I have a Bachelor's degree and a paralegal certificate but you def don't need it. One of my former co-workers had no degree and she made more money than me because she had more experience. She's also about 15 years older than me. Lots of places are willing to train because they don't want to untrain. It really just depends on the company. Look for paralegal, legal assistant, receptionist and filing assistant positions. I think my starting salary right after getting the certificate was $30-$32k.
@LKmusic91 @tanes256 Thanks! I actually am working on obtaining a case assistant internship position at a BL Firm that is geared towards post undergraduate individuals who don't have experience but want to pursue law (me!). So I'm definitely encouraged now admist the lack of experience!
Glad I could help @akeegs92 !
I just started a legal assistant job. I previously worked in this company's IT department for the past 5 years. Someone at my company who knew I was interested in going to law school and there was an opening/need for another legal assistant so I was interviewed and eventually chosen for the job. Experience is not necessary but networking is key.
One bit of advice an attorney here gave me about the LSAT was "take as many practice tests as you can."
Quality>>>>>quantity.
Oh I 100% agree.
Take a look at any Legal Aid (LSC's) in your area or the public defender's office. It might not be what you want to practice (turns out it's exactly what I want to do), but they're always hiring and they look incredible on an application. Also, most decent LSC's are usually very well connected with good law schools. I'm speaking from experience, I'll have 2 years at an LSC under my belt by the time and I'll have had legal assistant experience, case management, and project management.