What can you do with a law degree becoming an attorney?
Asked by TooMuch
I'm wrapping up my masters in Economics soon and I'm trying to figure out what to do afterwards. I'm into public policy, fiscal analysis, economic development, and international trade/finance. I've heard that econ has a pretty strong draw towards law school, but I have little interest in becoming a trial attorney. What other occupations/fields/career paths can be opened up with obtaining a law degree?

Best Answer:
Actually, most attorneys rarely, if ever, go to "trial." Even those attorneys involved in litigation rarely go. The only "trial" attorneys, anymore, are those specializing in criminal law (DAs, ADAs, AUSAs, defense attorneys) and those doing some types of personal injury work. Almost everyone else is a "transactional" attorney of some sort. They're filing papers with the SEC for a stock deal (ore reviewing the papers for the SEC). They're filing papers with the FTC/DOJ for a merger (or reviewing the papers for the FTC/DOJ). They're doing contract deals--business, real estate, trade. Even litigation attorneys are rarely in court as most cases settle--it's actually too costly to go to "trial." And there are a plethora of attorneys doing exactly what you have an interest in. You can work as counsel to a Senate/House committee. *Every single* federal agency has attorneys working for it and most are evaluating the policy from a legal standpoint (does it conform to what Congress has mandated, are our rulemaking procedures correct, etc.). Work for the DOJs tax division. Work for the World Bank or IMF. Work for USAID. Work for the State Department. You can do the areas you've indicated an interest in either from a private firm perspective or a governmental agency perspective. Both will provide several opportunities. After some time spent in either of these, you can go in-house counsel at a corporation doing the kind of work you find interesting. Here's the one piece of advice I will give you: don't go to law school unless you *know* you want to practice law. This is an unfortunate situation: how will you know you want to practice law unless you go to law school? Can't help you with that one. I just knew. Here's why I give that advice: law schools are expensive and becoming increasingly so (and those that are affordable are likely to be less well-regarded--although this is not always the case). By the time you graduate, pretty much the only profession that can help you pay back your loans in a timely manner is the legal profession. It used to be that a law degree was helpful for any profession that you chose to go into. While that's still the case, not just "any profession" will give you the salary you need to pay back your loans. Woohoo for you if you can pay for school without going into debt, however, and what I just said becomes null: you will benefit in almost ANY profession from having a law degree. Doing well in law school shows a commitment to a goal, a degree of perfection, and intelligence. It will be a benefit to you in whatever job you take.