1. Legal support, which includes legal secretary jobs, legal assistants and paralegals.
2. Attorney jobs, which includes criminal and civil lawyers, law clerks and judges.
3. Legal staffing, which includes legal recruiters and "headhunters."

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find out the requirements for the legal jobs you desire

There are very different requirements for legal secretary jobs, legal assistant jobs and attorney jobs. You will need to know the requirements for the particular law job you are interested in before beginning your legal career.

I recommend: Career Overview is an excellent website for information on the different types of law jobs. It provides information on job qualifications, employment opportunities and even historical earnings information. The American Bar Association also offers information on the different legal careers and lets you download free brochures detailing the skills needed for jobs in law and the role of lawyers.

Join a law jobs association

By joining an association for legal professionals, you will get opportunities to attend seminars, network with other people interested in legal jobs basics and obtain tips on career and practice development.

I recommend: The American College of Trial Lawyers is composed of trial attorneys in the United States and Canada. The college is dedicated to maintaining the standards and integrity of trial lawyers and offers several publications, an attorney directory and information on available attorney jobs. The National Paralegal Association is an international organization offering benefits and services to paralegals, as well as those providing services or products to the paralegal profession.

Stay on top of legal jobs trends

Staying on top of trends and news in the law is crucial to finding law jobs, doing well at your job once you have it and staying informed about legal jobs basics. Online legal news sources are a great source of industry information because they are updated daily and usually offer newsletters that can be delivered directly to your inbox.

I recommend: The American Lawyer is an exhaustive resource for legal news and provides information on surveys and rankings of law firms, litigation departments and dealmakers. It also lets you sign up for free online newsletters so you can get the latest headlines sent to your inbox. LexisOne also provides headline legal news and summaries of noteworthy decisions.

Action Steps
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Search for paralegal jobs through online resources

You do need to have specialized training for legal secretary jobs, but once you have that training, you will be able to gain lucrative employment. Search for jobs in your area with online job boards that focus on paralegal jobs.

I recommend: ParalegalJobs.com offers several services, including a paralegal job search engine and resume posting capabilities. EmploymentSpot also lists paralegal jobs.

Find in-house positions if you are interested in business law jobs

Many large companies prefer to hire in-house legal counsel so that they have a lawyer that works solely for them. This is a great way to put your business law knowledge to good use.

I recommend: The InHouseBlog lists many in-house job opportunities in addition to giving advice for in-house lawyers. You can also find positions through the Association of Corporate Counsel.

Use a legal recruiter to find jobs in law

A professional recruiter can save you time when looking for legal jobs. They carefully screen both candidates and employers to be sure that they make a good match. This is great news for busy professionals.

I recommend: Mestel & Company are attorney placement consultants who care not just about finding your next job, but in finding the next job that is best for your career. HG.org offers links to attorney placement services in every state, making it easy to find the legal recruiter that's right for you.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Many lawyers choose to work for themselves instead of getting legal jobs. If you can build up your own client base, you may be able to make more money this way.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find training opportunities for paralegal jobs or legal assistant jobs

If you're interested in a career as a paralegal or legal assistant, then you'll want to find the right program. Fortunately, there are various programs around the nation.

I recommend: Search for paralegal training programs that appeal to you at Paralegal Training.net. Then, narrow the list after reviewing suggestions on how to choose a paralegal program, provided by the National Federation of Paralegal Associations.

Obtain training to be an effective legal recruiter

Legal recruiter firms help law offices and other businesses with their legal staffing. They locate qualified people capable of filling legal secretary jobs, paralegal jobs and other law jobs.

I recommend: Ankus Consulting provides legal recruiting services; however, this company devotes 25% of its operations to train legal recruiting firms on various aspects of the business. Next Level Recruiting Training offers numerous opportunities for training on recruitment strategies ranging from online training to DVD packages.

Find a law school if you're interested in attorney jobs

Becoming a lawyer requires advanced training beyond an undergraduate degree. In order to practice law, you'll need a juris doctorate (JD). You'll also need to pass the bar exam in your jurisdiction.

I recommend: Find the right law school by reviewing the American Bar Association's list of approved law schools. HG.org also offers a list of law schools organized by state, cost, LSAT score, financial aid and ranking.

Seek out advanced training for business law jobs

Business law is a specific type of law. If you seek a law career in the area of business law, consider getting more training specific to the field.

I recommend: Paralegals or legal assistants should check out the UC Berkley Extension paralegal business law course. If you're looking into a law degree, consider Temple University or Georgetown University, as both schools offer a joint JD/MBA degree. Another option is to obtain a certificate in business law after you've received your JD. The University of San Francisco School of Law offers the Business Law Certificate Program.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Consider volunteering at an organization, such as the Legal Aid Society, where you'll gain legal skills and knowledge to help you in your legal career.

Guide to Legal Jobs Key Terms

Learn more about job titles within law offices and the courtroom

By Michelle Cramer

Action Steps
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Attorney

An attorney, or lawyer, is the most obvious legal position. It requires at least three years of law school after obtaining a bachelor's degree, passing of the bar exam within your state and continuing legal education (CLE) credits each year. Attorneys can cover a broad spectrum of case types, or focus on one particular law field, such as personal injury, family law, bankruptcy, medical negligence and many others.

I recommend: PayScale offers more information about the duties of a lawyer.

Court clerk

A court clerk handles the clerical and financial aspects of cases once a petitioner (or the plaintiff) submits the first pleading and filing fee. Court clerks are the first contact for questions about how to file a case or for docket information on a case already within the court system.

I recommend: Visit the National Center for State Courts website for more details about the court clerk position.

Judge

Judges, sometimes called magistrates, administer the law in a court case on city, county, state and federal levels. They oversee case proceedings, maintaining order and compliance within the courtroom. Judges determine what the next legal step should be in a case and, in trials without a jury, decide the winning party and judgment details at the conclusion of a case. They have several years of experience as attorneys before becoming judges.

I recommend: Learn more about the important position of a judge from Career Planner and State University.

Professional legal secretary (PLS)

A professional legal secretary (PLS) is also known as paralegal. Paralegals and legal assistants (those without the PLS certification) perform many of the medial tasks in a law firm, such as general communication with the clients, drafting pleadings and correspondence and additional clerical duties.

I recommend: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics provides a thorough explanation of what a PLS does.

Runner

Runners, as most law offices call them, are exactly that. These individuals run errands for the law firm, such as taking court pleadings to the courthouse, making copies of court documents, picking up office supplies and even picking up lunch orders for office staff. Additionally, many runners are responsible for helping legal assistants with their clerical duties, such as filing documents or answering the telephone. Unlike other legal employees, runners typically receive an hourly wage.

I recommend: Career Depot provides the job description for a filing clerk, which is very similar to that of a runner, but with more specific clerical tasks.

Court reporter

Court reporters must make verbatim records of all in-court proceedings, such as trials and important out-of-court proceedings, like depositions. They have training on a typing machine system that uses shorthand to make sure that they miss nothing in regard to the verbal exchange between parties.

I recommend: Visit State University for details on this particular job. For more key jobs within the legal field, visit the National Center for State Courts' database of court job descriptions, which includes court reporter.