Law Career Paths

Not everyone that studies law will want to be a conventional lawyer in the form of a solicitor or barrister. Indeed, with the large demand for these positions, it's important that law students or prospective lawyers consider other legal career paths that are available. Whether you're interested in tax, corporate or immigration law, jobs relating to these different legal fields exist beyond the walls of traditional law firms. For those investigating and deciding on their legal career, here's a guide to different law career paths and jobs available.

   1. Public service sector. Both state and federal public service providers recruit lawyers aspolicy officers, project managers, and in other administrative roles. For those interested government, law jobs in the public service are a great way to get involved in this sector.
   2. Regulatory bodies. Regulatory bodies are associated with administrative law and regulating and imposing governmental laws or rules. Lawyers are often employed by such bodies for analyst or investigative work.
   3. Non-government organisations. NGO's, such as humanitarian organisations, social service agencies, charities, and advocacy bodies need people with general knowledge of legal and governmental processes, and as such are eager to employ lawyers with a keen interest in this field.
   4. Legal Research. Not all law graduates will be interested in entering the professional world and may rather be interested in scholarship and academia. For those so inclined, entering the field of legal research is an option to be considered whether this is at a post graduate level or at a later stage of their academic or legal career.
   5. Business. Lawyers employed in the world of business play an important role in the legal functioning and operations of any company and with the ever increasing litigious nature of the corporate world, in-house lawyers and those specialising in corporate law are in high demand. Roles for lawyers are available in many different enterprises such as banking, telecommunications, mining or energy to name a few.