Post on 16-Apr-2020
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WHERE A J.D. CAN TAKE YOU With the right legal education, your law degree can open more doors than you think.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction 3
Government and Oversight Agencies 4
Research Institutions 5
Corporations and Corporate Consulting 6
Public Interest and Advocacy Organizations 7
Find Your Own Path 8
5 Things to Look for in a Law School 9
About Syracuse Law 10
Contact Us 11
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INTRODUCTION Pick any government agency, corporation, or consulting firm; without a doubt, you’d find lawyers on its staff. It might surprise you to learn that a large number of CEOs, entrepreneurs, and other executives completed a J.D. degree.
If you’re on the fence about applying to law school because you have other interests or aren’t sure what type of career you’d like to have, know this: a J.D. can open a lot of doors. In today’s ever-evolving business world, some J.D.s will find their place in a traditional law firm or government practice—serving as an associate, assistant district attorney, or junior public defender or clerking for judges. But these are far from the only options. With the right legal education, your career path can take you places you may never have thought of before.
Read on for some examples of where you could end up at some point in your career, and just as important, find out what to look for in a law school to make sure these opportunities await you upon graduation.
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GOVERNMENT AND OVERSIGHT AGENCIES
Taking the skills gleaned from a legal education and applying them to a government agency or a compliance and oversight job is actually very common for law school graduates. Do you think you might enjoy working on financial compliance issues related to Wall Street or prosecuting cases for the U.S. Department of Justice? Has the idea of playing a role in counterterrorism initiatives or the patent system always intrigued you? There are countless agencies and oversight offices working on these issues where you could end up doing just that.
MEET LAWRENCE RAAB Syracuse Law, L’14 Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, MPA’14
Counsel at U.S. House of Representatives
“There is no such thing as a typical day on Capitol Hill. As counsel to the House Committee on Natural Resources’ Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans, every day presents its own challenges. Whether meeting with western irrigators, national power companies, or other legislative offices, the Hill can only be described as controlled chaos. It’s truly an amazing place to work.”
POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Customs and Border Protection
Department of Justice
Department of State
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
Federal Aviation Administration
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
Foreign Service Institute
Interpol
National Security Administration
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
NY Stock Exchange
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
United Nations
U.S. Army
U.S. Coast Guard
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
U.S. Secret Service
U.S. Senate
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RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS
If during your law school education, you find yourself drawn to fields like human rights policy, counterterrorism, or national security or become really passionate about advocacy, consider taking your career to research institutions or think tanks. At these types of organizations, you’ll find people who feel strongly about public policy and special interest topics, write extremely well, think holistically, and are energized by working to find solutions to community and global problems.
POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS American Civil Liberties Union
The Brookings Institution
Carnegie Council
Carnegie Endowment
The Carter Center
Cato Institute
Center for Immigration Studies
Center for International Policy
Center for Nonproliferation Studies
Center for Security Policy
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Council on Foreign Relations
The Heritage Foundation
Institute for Defense Analysis
Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis
Institute for Science and International Security
National Security Archive
The Nixon Center
The Stimson Center
U.S. Institute of Peace
Woodrow Wilson Center
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CORPORATIONS AND CONSULTING COMPANIES
From providing general counsel at healthcare corporations to helping software companies bring new technologies to market, there are opportunities for lawyers in the business world—especially for those who earned a joint degree. Having a J.D. and a master’s in business administration, for example, can enrich your potential career path.
MEET EMILY GILBERT
POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS Bank of America
BDO
Booz Allen
CONMED Corporation
CubeSmart
CBS
The Corporate Executive Board Company (CEB)
Clarity Solution
Deloitte
Deutsche Bank
Etsy
FTI
Fox Television
Genentech
General Motors
JetBlue
Kodak
Microsoft
Morgan Stanley
National Grid
Pfizer
StarbucksSyracuse Law, L’15 | Consultant, Deloitte
“I knew that I didn’t want to do a traditional legal job after graduation, and that I wanted to do something that would
Quadel Group
UberOffices
incorporate both of my degrees. Consulting makes sense because I can use the tools I learned on the legal side of things and apply them to policy-type problems, while applying the practical M.P.A. knowledge on budgeting and analysis.”
READ MORE
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PUBLIC INTEREST AND ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS
Think public interest, higher education, peacebuilding, capacity-building, human rights, and justice. Lawyers can be found doing everything from teaching law classes in the U.S. to conducting research on police corruption and access to justice in Liberia. Experiential learning—such as clinics and externships—and being engaged in rich pro bono and community affairs activities while in law school can help you build your commitment to service and gain the experience necessary to succeed in this field.
POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS Amnesty International
Asylum Access
Brooklyn Young Mothers Collective
Burton Blatt Institute
Chicago-Kent Law School
Global Rights
Johns Hopkins University
Harvard Medical School
Hiscock Legal Aid Society
Human Rights First
Human Rights Watch
Indian Law Resource Center
International Alert
International Committee of the Red Cross
Interpeace
Landesa
Lawyers Without Borders
Legal Aid Society
Mercy Corps
No Peace Without Justice
NY Legal Assistance Group
Saferworld
Search for Common Ground
University of Texas Medical School
Worldwide NGO Directory
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FIND YOUR OWN PATH
Practice law. Be a prosecutor. Open a firm. Start a business. Whether you are always in a traditional legal setting or take another path, your J.D. will open doors and help you find the opportunities for a rich and interesting career.
THE COURTROOM AND BEYOND Work as a public defender
Start a small business
Lead a law firm
Write books
Start a not-for-profit
Run a legal aid society
Found a community organization
Counsel law students
Practice technology transfer
Be a general counsel
Open a hedge fund
Own your own firm
Advocate for others
Advise on national security
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5 THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN A LAW SCHOOL If any of these career possibilities appeal to you, and you want to ensure that your career path post-J.D. can take you wherever you dream to go, here’s what you should look for in a law school.
1 PART OF A WORLD-CLASS UNIVERSITY. A law school that can partner its offerings with other schools within its university can provide you with the opportunity to enrich your legal education with real-world experience and deeper knowledge of special topics.
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JOINT DEGREE OPTIONS. To expand your career options, find a school that lets you earn a law degree in conjunction with a master’s in the same amount of time.
SUCCESSFUL ALUMNI. It’s no secret that it helps to know someone at organizations that appeal to you. Research your potential law schools’ alumni networks, and find out where graduates are working now and if they’re responsive to their fellow graduates’ requests for informational interviews or help with the interview process.
4 REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE. Employers want to hire graduates with an experiential education that has prepared them to hit the ground running. Look for a school with a variety of clinic and externship opportunities that will allow you to work with real clients and become profession-ready.
5 A BROAD CURRICULUM–WITH PROFESSORS WHO ENJOY TEACHING. You’ll find a lot of the same courses at different law schools; your job is not only to find which ones are unique to each school (a course in South Africa or London), but also to find professors who are energized by the classroom so you can learn about a topic from a sought-after expert who loves teaching.
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ABOUT SYRACUSE LAW We hope you’ll consider Syracuse Law in your search for a law school that can provide you with the education and experiences that will set you on a career path with interesting opportunities and a wide variety of options. For a glimpse into how we do that, see below. At Syracuse Law, you can:
PARTICIPATE IN AN INTERDISCIPLINARY PROGRAM AT ONE OF OUR CENTERS AND INSTITUTES. Ask us about our Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism; the Technology Commercialization Law Program; the Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics & the Media; and others.
EARN TWO DEGREES WITH ONE TUITION We offer 11 JOINT DEGREE OPTIONS, including these examples:
J.D./M.B.A. J.D./M.P.A. J.D./M.S. Public Communications J.D./Master of
International Relations J.D./M.S. in Forensic Science
CONNECT WITH A LOYAL ALUMNI NETWORK. The Power of Orange network is comprised of over 10,000 COLLEGE OF LAW ALUMNI throughout the U.S. and the world.
GAIN HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE. We offer several externship programs and nine in-house clinics, as well as an award-winning Moot Court Program.
TAKE A VAST ARRAY OF COURSES TO PREPARE YOU FOR THE REAL WORLD. EXAMPLES OF 1L ELECTIVES MAY INCLUDE:
Fact Investigation and Analysis
Introduction to Legal Practice: Applying Contracts, Torts, and Civil Procedure
Land Use Planning & Zoning Law
National Security Lawyering
Negotiation for Lawyers
Problem Solving & Intelligent Lawyering
Professional Responsibility: Becoming a Lawyer
Public Interest Lawyering
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CONTACT US Have questions we didn’t answer in this eBook? Talk directly with the Syracuse Law Admissions or Career Services team. Or, you can:
NIKKI LAUBENSTEIN Director of Admissions aslauben@law.syr.edu
DANA NOWAKOWSKI Assistant Director of Admissions dmnowako@law.syr.edu
ANDREW HORSFALL, ESQ. Associate Director of Admissions ashorsfa@law.syr.edu
LAURA ANDREKANIC Recruitment Coordinator laditch@law.syr.edu
SCHEDULE A VISIT
START YOUR APPLICATION
REQUEST MORE INFORMATION
KIM WOLF PRICE, ESQ. Assistant Dean and Director of Career Services kwprice@law.syr.edu
SAMANTHA Z. KASMAREK, ESQ. Associate Director of Career Services kasmarek@law.syr.edu
ELIZABETH C. JEFFERY Assistant Director of Career Services jeffery@law.syr.edu
KAVITHA JANARDHAN, ESQ. Associate Director of Career Services kjanardh@law.syr.edu
MELANIE CUEVAS RODRIGUEZ, ESQ. Associate Director of Career Services mcrodriguez@law.syr.edu
CAREER SERVICES STATISTICS