Attorneys play an essential role in representing companies during legal proceedings and ensuring compliance with applicable law. Therefore, it’s imperative that they possess excellent interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills as well as strong emotional intelligence.
An effective attorney job description must clearly outline their role and enumerate its specific duties, while also detailing necessary skills and experience for success.
U.S. Courts
The federal court system encompasses multiple levels of courts, from the Supreme Court and various circuits down to district and magistrate levels. Each level specializes in specific issues; their courts are staffed with attorneys, clerks and other support personnel.
The District Court of Southern New York invites applicants who are interested in becoming part of its team of legal professionals tackling challenging and engaging cases to apply to join its vibrant legal department, where we value excellence, dedication, diversity and professional growth.
The court’s website provides information for applying to judicial vacancies and government attorney positions as well as links to legal jobs in the Judiciary, probation and pretrial services, public defender organizations and public law clerk positions. There is also an OSCAR search engine which helps find federal law clerk/staff attorney opportunities; best to check each judge’s page on the website for chamber-specific opportunities for future law clerk positions.
U.S. Department of Justice
The Department of Justice hires attorneys, law clerks and other legal professionals. However, unlike most government agency positions that fall into excepted service categories such as attorneys or law clerks, which allows government agencies more leeway regarding who they hire – such as hiring recent graduates without bar membership as law clerks before transitioning them to attorney once they join their state bars.
Pay is usually competitive for agency attorneys; most start off as GS-11 employees – an entry-level grade with annual compensation starting at $69,870 plus locality pay. Furthermore, federal legal work offers an expansive array of work suited specifically for your interests – for more information please visit the Department of Justice website.
National Association for Law Placement
National Association for Law Placement (NALP), as a membership-based association, represents over 2,500 legal career professionals who advise law students and lawyers. NALP collects and publishes data regarding legal employment; as well as champions education standards related to recruitment, professional development, diversity inclusion.
Public interest lawyers who seek nontraditional work opportunities should look into positions with government agencies or legal services organizations, including public defenders. Federal agencies hire many graduates through honors programs while state departments hire newcomers regularly. It’s best to check with your law school’s career service office about hiring policies of agencies you are interested in as they may also know of alumni working there who could offer advice and connections.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn can help savvy legal professionals quickly identify employment opportunities. By attending industry events, joining professional organizations, and networking online with people in your field of practice, you may hear about job openings before they’re advertised publicly. Furthermore, law firms often accept unsolicited applications directly for positions at their firm if desired.
Take time to ensure your LinkedIn profile is complete, using the description field to describe in depth each position you have held and your role and responsibilities in that role. Include a clear photo of yourself and an attention-grabbing headline; add projects that showcase your skills and interests; this way your LinkedIn profile will shine with excellence!
LinkedIn also features discussion boards to offer advice about job searches, and can even allow you to narrow your results with keywords – making it an invaluable source for finding attorney positions.
Job Center
NALP’s Job Center serves as an essential source for legal career services, legal recruitment, and professional development positions and employers in legal recruiting. Attorneys can post their resumes here as well as set up search agents that send job notifications based on criteria they select.
Current job markets make it imperative that candidates stand out. Recent graduates should present themselves in their best light when entering the job market by creating an impressive resume that highlights both academic achievement and relevant experience, while established attorneys need to carefully consider ethical considerations involved in migrating to new firms – this topic is discussed by NBI OnDemand CLE course Legal Ethics: Law Firm Breakups & Lateral Moves.