Law belongs to one of the most demanding spheres. It is hard to find your place in the sun without a profound education and years of legal practice. On one hand, this field is quite rigid and requires much attention to detail. On the other hand, the law industry keeps booming at light speed. The new social, political, and economic challenges need new legal mechanisms. Therefore, this industry can offer various career opportunities. Specialists from Jooble, one of the leading job search engines worldwide, prepared a list of the most in-demand legal professions.
Remote legal research
This job is a good start in a legal career. Remote legal research draft various documents, analyze legislation and conduct deep research on the necessary topic. They are also in charge of working emails, calls, and other administrative tasks. Thus, legal assistants help lawyers get prepared for new cases by communicating with clients, doing briefs, and sorting out relevant information.
Legal secretary
Although legal secretaries don’t usually need a degree in jurisprudence, they are expected to have a solid knowledge of terminology, court systems, and the basics of regulating procedures. On top, they should be good at planning, multitasking, and office and litigation management software. Since legal secretaries are in charge of most clerical and administrative tasks, their job is to make everything work smoothly. From greeting potential clients and screening their situations to sourcing and verifying relevant information, the list of legal secretary’s tasks is long. These specialists also keep track of the record system and make sure that lawyers meet the deadlines.
Litigation paralegal
Just as legal assistants, paralegals work directly with attorneys and are responsible for preparing briefs, pleadings, motions, and other documents. They also conduct legal research and pre-claim investigation. Generally speaking, litigation paralegals support lawyers during stages of the litigation process. For example, these specialists prepare documents and file them with the court, keeping track of pleadings and discovery indexes. They also assist in jury selection and preparing witnesses for the hearings.
Judicial law clerk
Judicial law clerks assist judges. For instance, they keep in order and update their documents and create law libraries. Judicial clerks also participate in court sessions, tracking arguments and relevant case information. They actively interact with judges to prepare documents and orders correctly. Clerks’ tasks also include proofreading various decisions and opinions created by the judges. These specialists must stay updated concerning all law changes relevant to a considered case. They have to inform judges if and how such changes may influence the case.
Court reporter
Court reporters are specialists who keep track of all proceedings. They can work not only in the legal sphere. Court reporters are in-demand in governmental and business institutions. Writing while listening is a challenging task, especially when you must follow sophisticated arguments and discussions. Therefore, these specialists are good at multitasking and stenography. They are well-familiar with the basics of criminal or civil proceedings and understand what is going on in a court. Court reporters make verbatim official recordings, proofread them, bring them to the standardized format, and file the materials.
Intellectual property lawyer
Intellectual property is one of the most sought-after spheres in jurisprudence. Granting individuals and companies their ownership rights boosts creativity and readiness to produce new technologies, gadgets, and art. Intellectual property law (IP) consists of the following spheres: patents, copyright, trademark law, licensing, trade secret law, and unfair competition. As we see, it offers plenty of career opportunities. In general, IP lawyers help clients to get ownership rights, advising them on necessary legal actions. If the situation requires, they also represent people in the court, construct and check IP documents making sure the patents, trademarks, and licenses are in order.
Tax lawyer
Thanks to tax attorneys, clients can easier navigate complicated domestic and international tax systems. These specialists also ensure that the activity of their clients complies with the national legislation. Tax lawyers should be confident dealing with credits, exemptions, deductions, legal novelties, and loopholes. They can focus either on individuals or work solely with businesses. Tax lawyers help clients with tax disputes. The tax field is quite fluctuating, so once you have chosen this path, prepare to revise your knowledge occasionally. These specialists also have a set of standards they have to meet to keep their legal activity.
Chief legal officer
Chief legal officers (also referred to as general counsels) work for big companies or corporations. They are usually heads of law departments. They are involved in elaborating the company strategy that is to minimize possible legal risks. Chief legal officers adjust company policy to new regulations, keep track of all novelties, and ensure that businesses won’t accidentally break any law. They are also in charge of gaining regulatory approvals for new company products, solving possible compliance issues, and representing the business in the litigation process.
Law school professor
Law school professors are experienced lawyers who show interest in academic research. Apart from regular professional activity, these specialists also publish scholarly works and exchange their knowledge and expertise with colleagues and students. Academic work is demanding because you should process tons of theoretical materials and participate in various practical workshops, etc. Securing such a position is a complicated task. Candidates should possess excellent law practice experience and publication credits. Among the perks of this job is regular productive cooperation with other scholars and aspiring students. You will learn a lot while teaching.
Judge
A judge is one of the most prominent jurisprudence careers. These specialists are literally appointed or elected to determine people’s fates. Usually, judges are experienced lawyers who have dealt with various cases throughout their life. A solid professional and personal background is a must for this category of professionals. They don’t only rule law issues and work as referees for contesting parties. They decide what party is right and to what extent. On the other hand, judges clarify who has to bear responsibility for malicious acts. Judges have a long list of responsibilities. They hear allegations from both, prosecutors and defenders.
Judges also interact with witnesses, listen to their testimonies, and assure that the person answers the questions relevant to the case and that they will be asked correctly. These specialists are also in charge of the admissibility of various evidence and motions provided by the council. Judges let defendants know their scope of rights. When it comes to criminal procedure, they decide who is guilty and what sentences these people should get. Determining liability or various damages belongs to the civil judge’s duties.
Apart from working in the courtroom, these professions do much analytical work searching and analyzing previous laws and decisions to have a more powerful argumentation. They also supervise other court staff and may participate in activities aimed at developing existing legislation.
To sum up, jurisprudence is a competitive and challenging sphere. However, it offers many career opportunities and options on how to get into the industry. Not all in-demand vacancies require a law degree. Yet, the more sophisticated the field is, the more knowledge and experience you should possess. The legal sphere is changeable, so one must constantly revise what is going on and what changes have appeared. Law is developing fast, so new creative specialists ready to tackle challenges will always remain sought-after. If you are looking for a legal expert in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area, Call Shawn Haff now at 616-438-6719.