WHERE A J.D. CAN TAKE YOU. With the right legal education, your law degree can open more doors than you think.

With the right legal education, your law

degree can open more doors than you think.

WHERE A J.D.

CAN TAKE YOU

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

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.

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.

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

GOVERNMENT AND

OVERSIGHT AGENCIES

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.”

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

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

RESEARCH

POTENTIAL

EMPLOYERS

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 Starbucks Quadel Group UberOffices

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

Syracuse 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 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.”

POTENTIAL

EMPLOYERS

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

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

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

FIND YOUR OWN PATH

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

1

2

3

4

ABOUT

SYRACUSE LAW

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

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:

REQUEST MORE

INFORMATION

CONTACT US

Or, you can:

Have questions we didn’t answer in this eBook? Talk directly with the

Syracuse Law Admissions or Career Services team.

SCHEDULE

A VISIT

START YOUR

APPLICATION

REQUEST MORE

INFORMATION

NIKKI LAUBENSTEIN

Director of Admissions

aslauben@law.syr.edu

ANDREW HORSFALL, ESQ.

Associate Director

of Admissions

ashorsfa@law.syr.edu

DANA NOWAKOWSKI

Assistant Director

of Admissions

dmnowako@law.syr.edu

LAURA ANDREKANIC

Recruitment Coordinator

laditch@law.syr.edu

MELANIE CUEVAS

RODRIGUEZ, ESQ.

Associate Director of

Career Services

mcrodriguez@law.syr.edu

ELIZABETH C. JEFFERY

Assistant Director of

Career Services

jeffery@law.syr.edu

SAMANTHA Z.

KASMAREK, ESQ.

Associate Director of

Career Services

kasmarek@law.syr.edu

KIM WOLF PRICE, ESQ.

Assistant Dean and Director

of Career Services

kwprice@law.syr.edu

KAVITHA JANARDHAN, ESQ.

Associate Director of

Career Services

kjanardh@law.syr.edu

CAREER SERVICES

STATISTICS