r/JDpreferred

Hi all,

New attorney, been licensed for a year, not loving it. So, I am looking to dip my toes into JD preferred positions to see if there is anything worth having in my area.

Many contracts positions in my area focus very heavily on procurement and the business side of things. I know “contracts” generally is a highly recommended JD preferred position, but I don’t totally see how a JD helps with these skills. From an employer’s position, are JDs highly sought after in these roles over other young professionals with more business-oriented backgrounds? How can I leverage my JD and year of practice experience to show potential in the business areas I’m unexposed to?

For context, I’ve failed the bar several times now and have no motivation or resources to take it again. I have been struggling to find employment for 4 months now and haven’t gotten any leads. Compliance, Risk management, government jobs, etc all seems to be a dead end. I usually get a “you aren’t a fit” email if I hear anything back at all. I can’t even get a factory job in the city I live in because I’m too over qualified. I had a recruiter tell me “there aren’t any entry level jobs for you in (insert state I live in)”. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don see a point to anything right now and don’t see a way out of my situation ever. Anyone know any places that are hiring that are like a guranteed job? Willing to move anywhere.

I got laid off at the end of March from the private family law firm I was working at since graduating from a highly ranked law school, and I failed the Bar on my first try by 1 point (269 in a 270 jurisdiction) in April. Since then, I've been looking for jobs, but it's been bleak. The thing is, I don't even think I want to practice law, at least not in a client-facing manner at a firm. I'm still taking the Bar because a good amount of this knowledge is fresh-ish in my mind, so I'd rather just take it now while I have that advantage and not 5 years down the line when I decide I want to take it and have to start all over.

I've mostly been looking at like JD-advantage-ish jobs, but I'm finding these are excruciatingly hard to get. When I was bouncing between family law internships and clerkships throughout law school, it was really easy because my resume was chock-full of that stuff, but trying to find a compliance or analyst position is proving to be a pain in the ass.

Does anyone have any tips? I tried using that website this subreddit advertises, but I don't exactly want to pay up.

Hi! I’ve posted in here recently about wanting to transition from litigation to transactional practice. I graduated in May 2025, passed the bar, and have been working in a niche litigation field. During law school, my coursework and internships focused primarily on contracts. Does anyone have any advice on making this transition as an early career attorney? I’m perfectly happy doing a contracts manager role for a while as well - I just want to get more experience drafting and negotiating commercial or tech contracts. I would love to eventually transition to in house counsel down the line if it’s a possibility. I’m having a hard time getting interviews for any position (contract manager or jr in house counsel). Does anyone have any advice on getting experience with contracts while in a litigation role (conferences, volunteering, etc - anything to help my resume stand out). Thank you for any and all advice. I feel so lost and am scared of getting stuck in an area of law that I don’t enjoy.

I was wondering if anyone has ever OE’d in a JD preferred job. this is essentially working multiple remote jobs at once. there are threads about it. But, they are mostly coding type jobs and the such. just curious the industr/job types. maybe considering it. Thoughts?