Law

8 Law Jobs of the Future

If you’re attracted to law, you might wonder what’s in store after you get a law degree. And it’s a great question.

On the surface, a law degree makes you highly employable in various industries and positions. There are ever-evolving and rapidly developing technological advancements that should only raise the demand for specialised expertise.

However, on a deeper level, it’s not enough to have a law degree. You should carefully consider your career options, choose the right path and choose the one that suits you the best. 

Law occupations cover many fields, so don’t limit yourself to the most famous or well-known. Here are some legal professions that you can start considering.

 

Judges 

As a judge, you decide cases in a law court. In the UK, for example, you must practise as a solicitor or barrister for a minimum of five or seven years before becoming a judge. This is followed by some part-time work supervised by a veteran judge. 

It’s your responsibility to control hearings and trials in the courtroom. You must examine the facts, interpret the law, and make an unbiased decision in favour of one of the parties – or in a criminal court, direct the jury appropriately. Plus, you’ll decide the sentence a convict gets in criminal instances.  

In cases heard in court, as a judge, you’ll have the following duties:

  • Supervise case preparation and progress
  • Rule on legal challenges
  • Control hearing processes 
  • Give legal direction to a jury 
  • Sentence convicted offenders 
  • Decide rulings in appeal hearings.

Remember that it’s a competitive industry, with the number of applications for judicial jobs considerably outnumbering the number of appointments.

 

Solicitors

Companies and individuals usually reach out to solicitors for legal advice in the first instance. Most of them work for a law firm or partnership rather than for a company, unlike other industries. Firms, including law firms, are owned and managed by partners and senior partners instead of being run by directors and shareholders. Solicitors receive instructions from clients and advise them on the best course of legal action to pursue.

If you like to give well-researched advice, you might make a good solicitor. How? You should contact a legal recruitment agency to help you find your dream job. Specialists from companies like www.legalrecruitmentagencyuk.co.uk/legal-recruitment-agencies/birmingham can accentuate your qualities and skills in your resume and coach you before your interview. 

 

Barristers

In common law jurisdictions, a barrister is a lawyer who mainly focuses on courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their responsibilities include:

  • Representing clients in higher courts and tribunals
  • Studying the law
  • Drafting legal pleadings
  • Giving expert legal opinions.  

Solicitors consult barristers when specialist representation or advice in court is necessary. As a barrister, you usually represent a case in court, so you should use common sense, have rational thinking, and be persuasive to convince a judge in court to rule in favour of your client. 

This profession is much smaller and more competitive to get into compared to the solicitors’ profession, and often, most barristers are self-employed, working in a set of chambers, with cases being allocated by the Clerk. 

 

In-house Lawyers 

Barristers and solicitors aren’t required to work for legal firms or chambers. All giant companies, like BT, Amazon, and Vodafone, have in-house legal departments. If you pursue such a career, you’ll advise colleagues in corporations rather than external clients.

Whether you work in the public, private, or third sector, you’ll provide three core services, summarised as “CAT”:

  • Contracts. You will represent the organisation in its commercial negotiations.
  • Advice. You’ll offer advice across a range of the company’s activities, like acquisitions and mergers. 
  • Training and education. You’ll educate and even train business colleagues on relevant legal aspects.

 

Chartered Legal Executives

Chartered legal executives are certified attorneys who specialise in certain law areas and can counsel clients. You can work as one with or without studying for a degree, so there are many routes to becoming one. 

Qualification is accomplished through a professional body known as the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx). Many legal executives prefer to work as paralegals first and qualify in the process.

By being a chartered legal executive, the most common areas of law that you specialise in are:

  • Conveyancing
  • Criminal law
  • Company and business law 
  • Litigation
  • Personal injury
  • Family law. 

 

Legal Secretaries

Legal secretaries, as the name suggests, help lawyers with administrative tasks. This can include scheduling meetings, typing up legal documents like contracts and wills, and organising the work of a group of lawyers. 

While legal secretaries may not counsel clients, they are frequently the initial point of contact for clients, primarily at smaller law offices. Therefore, you’ll need strong people skills and organisational and analytical abilities. 

There are no formal qualifications or criteria for becoming a legal secretary; however, they can be advantageous. With the proper training, you can progress from being a secretary to becoming a paralegal or legal executive. 

 

Advertising Lawyers 

Attorneys in this profession guarantee that product and service advertisements comply with legal prohibitions against misleading, deceiving, or defrauding customers. Advertising lawyers often advise businesses on creating effective sales presentations while adhering to consumer protection laws and regulations. 

To pursue this career, you’ll need expertise in preventing and managing advertising-related claims. There may be some litigation to fight against in court, but for the most part, you will work as an advisor.

 

Admiralty and Maritime Lawyers 

Attorneys with expertise in admiralty and maritime law handle legal conflicts involving water vessels like ships and boats and sometimes get involved in offshore drilling cases. These lawyers frequently work with claims involving disasters, wrecks, or environmental pollution, and they occasionally manage class-action lawsuits.

The process of becoming a maritime lawyer differs from country to country. However, in most nations, being qualified to practise general law is sufficient to become a marine lawyer.

 

If you aspire to work in the legal system, you can make a more educated decision about which law school to attend by examining job opportunities. Researching different types of law and the responsibilities that the desired career has can help you determine what legal job suits you.