At its core, an attorney is someone who can be presented with a problem on an unfamiliar topic, and then rapidly research and distill all relevant information so that they can confidently recommend a solution.

If you are graduating and looking for a non-legal career then keep the above in mind. Spending the last 3-years in law school has armed you with the ability to process massive amounts of data and information. Mark Weber (Assistant Dean of Career Services at Harvard Law School) recently wrote about changes to the legal market that impact new attorneys, which includes how technology has disrupted the legal practice.

With that in mind, if you are thinking of a non-traditional career in law the below are five potential non-traditional areas to look at.

  1. Management Consultant

This is probably one of the most similar jobs to an attorney (absent the litigation). As someone in management consulting, you are leveraging your ability to think critically to provide advice on a wide-range of topics, providing non-legal advice to your clients about how they can improve their business operations. Vault.com ranks the top management consulting firms each year. Below is the list of the top 10 for 2018.

  1. McKinsey & Company
  2. The Boston Consulting Group, Inc.
  3. Bain & Company
  4. Deloitte Consulting LLP
  5. Oliver Wyman
  6. The Bridgespan Group
  7. Putnam Associates
  8. Parthenon-EY
  9. L.E.K. Consulting
  10. The Brattle Group

  1. Analyst

Analysts come in all types. You can be a financial analyst, stock analyst, accounting analyst, cost analyst, news analyst, and more. At the end of the day, these individuals look at a wide-array of topics and analyze the information. BCG Search’s Managing Consultant, Harrison Barnes provides some great insight, mentioning that analysts can understand how a company is growing in response to industry trends.

  1. Representative for a Legal Research Software Company

A common path for individuals can be to look at becoming a representative for one of the large Legal Research companies (such as LexisNexis or Westlaw). These representatives can offer a unique perspective in that they have used the product, and understand the nuances of an attorneys need. Plus, they get to be on the cutting edge of legal research, seeing what new technological developments are close to being released.

4. Compliance

Compliance is an area that many attorneys excel in. The compliance industry can be ensuring that a corporation’s people follow federal, state, and municipal regulations. These types of jobs can be huge in the financial, banking, and healthcare industries where regulations are continually evolving.

These types of jobs require that individuals have a very close attention to detail, and continually keep abreast of regulatory changes.

  1. Lobbyist

Being a lobbyist requires an individual work closely with politicians, summarize new pieces of legislation and influence decision makers (advocating for your belief in the law). Lobbyists are individuals who cannot only make connections but also leverage them to effect change for a cause within political parties.

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