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

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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

Contact Us 11

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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.

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GOVERNMENT AND OVERSIGHT AGENCIES

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.

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.”

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

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RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS

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 American Civil Liberties Union

The Brookings Institution

Carnegie Council

Carnegie Endowment

The Carter Center

Cato Institute

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

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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

POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS Bank of America

BDO

Booz Allen

CONMED Corporation

CubeSmart

CBS

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

StarbucksSyracuse 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

Quadel Group

UberOffices

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.”

READ MORE

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PUBLIC INTEREST 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 this field.

POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS Amnesty International

Asylum Access

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

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FIND YOUR OWN PATH

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

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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.

1 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.

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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.

4 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.

5 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.

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ABOUT SYRACUSE LAW 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:

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

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CONTACT US Have questions we didn’t answer in this eBook? Talk directly with the Syracuse Law Admissions or Career Services team. Or, you can:

NIKKI LAUBENSTEIN Director of Admissions aslauben@law.syr.edu

DANA NOWAKOWSKI Assistant Director of Admissions dmnowako@law.syr.edu

ANDREW HORSFALL, ESQ. Associate Director of Admissions ashorsfa@law.syr.edu

LAURA ANDREKANIC Recruitment Coordinator laditch@law.syr.edu

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START YOUR APPLICATION

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KIM WOLF PRICE, ESQ. Assistant Dean and Director of Career Services kwprice@law.syr.edu

SAMANTHA Z. KASMAREK, ESQ. Associate Director of Career Services kasmarek@law.syr.edu

ELIZABETH C. JEFFERY Assistant Director of Career Services jeffery@law.syr.edu

KAVITHA JANARDHAN, ESQ. Associate Director of Career Services kjanardh@law.syr.edu

MELANIE CUEVAS RODRIGUEZ, ESQ. Associate Director of Career Services mcrodriguez@law.syr.edu

CAREER SERVICES STATISTICS