I am a foreign lawyer who just passed the texas bar, i am still need to take the MPRE yet. What jobs i seek during this period before i become officially licensed.
Hi all, I just graduated law school in May. I moved to an area right outside of Philly and am brand new. I want to stay where I am if possible. I’m open to remote work as well. I am here because I unfortunately failed the bar exam on my first take this last July. I do plan to retake, but for now I need to be open to all options considering my current job was contingent on this passing score. Any suggestions? I have a lot of experience
Hey yall
I’m looking for jd preferred/advantage positions, but the overwhelming majority of positions that I see want someone with experience. What entry level positions should I be looking for? Thanks.
Hello everyone,
I know my post is a bit untraditional in it of itself for this subreddit and I really do hope it is not an inconvenience to ask here: but, honestly I don't know if there is a better community to bring this up to.
I love legal work, but unsure if I ever want to be a practicing attorney. Not because I wouldn't enjoy it to some extent, but rather I just think I equally enjoy other avenues such as compliance roles in corporate settings. Currently I work as a legal researcher at a firm where I do most of the same work already as a compliance professional, so I began a Master of Legal Studies at Vanderbilt so I would have a degree to support that I know what I am doing beyond my work experience since my undergrad is fairly unrelated to what I do. But, this inspired me to study for law school and potentially pursue a JD so it seems "more official". However, unlike my MLS program that I am already accepted into, the JD programs I am likely to get into for the 2027 cycle would be much less prestigious and "Tier 4" afaik. I already am doing the applications, but with no aid from my MLS, would a JD to going into a non-traditional role later be a waste of time and money if I could do these things with an MLS from a "good school"? Would finishing the MLS from a good school mean better job prospects in that context? Would a JD be better to have from a "lower prestige" law school, or will it always not matter if I want to go untraditional and avoid practice?
I have a lot of questions that include nuances of these. But, I think my dilemma here is fairly articulated and I truly would want any advice on what my situation could look like from any of y'all that work in similar spaces or experienced similar situations. Really any advice on this would help so much, as I have a lot of stress trying to balance these decisions. I look forward to hearing from y'all and thank you for whoever is reading and bearing with my long post.
Hey all,
I have been on a hunt for a new job for the past 4 months after being burnt out at my current role as an associate attorney at an IP firm.
I have reached the point where for my own well being I feel like I need to find a role that hires quickly where I can continue my search for a more meaningful role with less stress and obligation than my current one.
Does anyone have ideas for the types of places or roles I should look into? Any ideas would be appreciated.
Hi everyone,
I graduated law school May 2025 and am still looking for work and am hoping folks here might be able to help me with ideas or leads. Thanks in advance!
I am primarily looking for JD-advantage/public interest/policy-type roles in the New York area, but am getting desperate and honestly am open to many different options.
I am waiting on July 2026 bar exam results, but scored a 263 on the bar exam a year ago, so just three points shy of passing in New York but high enough to pass in other states. For various reasons however, I’m not trying to move to another state right now.
I was a legal journalist for several years before law school, which sparked my interest in changing careers, so have much experience in writing about and analyzing the law. Ideally, I’d like to find a role utilizing my legal and journalism backgrounds, but I also recognize that some of those roles may be hard to come by.
Lately I’ve been struggling and very stressed trying to find something, even if it’s short term or document review, which I’m also open to.
Please let me know if, especially if you live in New York, have thoughts or suggestions on what my approach should be, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Im a rising second year associate working in a niche litigation field (think private wealth, tax, etc.). I just finished my first year and realized that I am not cut out for big law hours, stress, and expectations.
Wondering if anyone has advice on exit opportunities for someone so early on in their career.
Im a 1st generation immigrant who feels like she has no idea what opportunities are out there.
What matters to me:
-prestige doesn't matter
-work life balance matters a lot. A remote job would be amazing
-willing to take 50% or more pay cut, particularly for govt or nonprofit so I can get my 100-200k student debt forgiven
-dont like waking up early as im a night owl and willing to work late (but maybe with better work life balance, waking up early would be fine)
-prefer to live in CA but am willing to relocate anywhere in US for the right job
I've been looking into smaller firms with lower hour requirements (i.e. 1500), CA county/city counsel positions, remote govt (federal or local) positions, in house, and undergraduate professor. So far, from my research, it seems like the city/counsel route would be best for me in terms of work life balance, but i would like more information. My long term goal is to be an undergrad or law professor (probably undergrad bc law prof is too hard).
Any other opportunities out there? Should I just try to stick it out in biglaw as long as possible? My mental and physical health are taking a serious hit.
Also, if anyone works in a remote govt or city/county counsel job, would you mind dm'ing me?
If it matters, I went to a t14 on the lower end.
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance for your help!
I’m going on 20 years of practice at a midsize firm. About 1/3 of my practice is insurance defense (design professional focus), 1/3 construction industry practice and 1/3 general commercial. After years of being counsel and not “on track” for partnership, my practice group asked me to go on track so I did last year. I’m told if I work on development priorities, including reducing low rate insurance defense work, I am in the zone for next year. For most of my colleagues who stayed on track, it’s a 10+ year runway to partner, and we are lockstep, so it’s straight to equity partnership.
Recently I was approached by a recruiter about an in-house senior level claims manager position for a specialty insurer for their design professional liability line. It involves some coverage analysis, claims handling and strategizing with outside counsel, and interfacing with underwriters. I interviewed and just received an offer. It would be fully remote (currently I work half remote at the firm bur am told to increase my profile for partner progression), no billable hours, reasonable work hours and benefits, and baseline salary is about what I make now as counsel.
I believe my firm that partnership is on the horizon - but I no longer know if that’s what I want. There’s a 2300 total hour commitment, and partners have to hustle (biz dev, community engagement, associate training, all the things on top of work). My husband recently retired and I’m middle-aged. I’m good at my job, but feel I no longer have the hunger that I did earlier in my career. We are financially comfortable (one child in middle school), though obviously partnership would have a greater economic reward. I love my firm colleagues and most of my clients, but getting sick of the grind. New position would allow me to manage outside counsel and strategize with design clients on resolution without being the one to take deps, go to court, file motions, etc. All things I excel at but which are less exciting as time goes on.
I need to make a decision. Anyone been in this boat? Advice, pros and cons, regrets or lack thereof? Many thanks in advance.
hi all, i took the bar exam for the 4th time and found out today that i failed. i told myself that i will not be taking it again until my jx switches over to the nextgen exam (happening in feb. 2028).
i currently work in a social service agency that has nothing to do with my degree. i’ve been working at for the last almost two years as a way to make money while i studied for j25, f26, and j26 bars. however, if you’ve heard anything about non for profit organizations, you’d know how poorly ran and underpaid it is
i say this all to say that i’d love some advice on the best ways to find jd preferred roles. while waiting for results i was applying for positions on linkedin, but as you probs know, finding a position on linkedin nowadays is like finding gold. i’m primarily interested in compliance and contract specialist roles. but am definitely open to other paths as long as the pay is good!