3 Exciting Jobs You Can Do with a Law Degree

The U.S. News & World Report just came out with a list of the top 100 Best Jobs, and for the first time in history, being a lawyer has failed to enter the top 50. That’s right—this year being a “nail technician” (the artists formerly known as manicurists and pedicurists) is considered to be a “better” job.
It’s a hard pill to swallow for lawyers like us, considering that most nail technicians have a median salary of $22,000. Meanwhile, lawyers still earn a median salary of $113,000.

Perhaps, to quote a line from a popular song, it’s not about the money. As Justice O’Connor mentioned in a speech, job dissatisfaction among lawyers is widespread and it’s also getting worse.
It could be that there are now too many lawyers who had dreams of becoming one of those characters from one of the John Grisham books, dealing with exciting legal strategies. Instead, they end up dealing with Chicago process servers and going to court to obtain alias summons.

So what kind of jobs can lawyers do, if they don’t want to be lawyers anymore? It turns out, there are plenty of options!

1. Teach. You know what they say – those who can, do and those who can’t, teach. But in college, you’ll be regarded as a wizened veteran of the legal wars, and your job is to guide those impressionable lads and ladies through the gritty reality of law. If you don’t want to teach, you can still work for the university as part of the administration. You can advise on the contracts that the university enters into, and also check that the school is complying with all of the many government regulations.
2. Write. Who says you can’t be the next Scott Turow or John Grisham, for that matter? If you find the everyday tasks of a lawyer to be boring, then maybe you have fantasies and imagined scenarios of more exciting events that a lawyer can get into. Turn those fantasies into novels, and perhaps you will stand a chance of raking in the big bucks when your book becomes a blockbuster.

This job may be more exciting for you as well. When you make enough contacts in Hollywood, you can always go back into becoming a lawyer, except your clients are all movie stars and moguls. Think of all the glamorous parties you will be able to attend!

3. Enter politics. You do know that the President of the United States has a law degree from Harvard, right? But he didn’t become a lawyer. Instead, he entered public service, became a senator, and then almost immediately became the President. No one can say that his career is in any way boring. But if campaigning all day and making speeches—and still losing in the end, as President Obama once did—is not your kind of thing, you can always work behind the scenes. You can be a kingmaker and advise some of the future Senators and Presidents.

Or you can be a lobbyist. That might work for you too. You can schmooze all day long with politicians of various stripes, and exert your influence wherever your employer needs it.

Remember, you have a law degree. That will open a lot of doors for you, you know, just in case you’ve become increasingly bored dealing with Chicago process servers day in and day out! The bottom line is once you have your law degree you have many career choices at your disposal.