Law Careers Outlook
As laws become more complicated and lawsuits more prevalent, legal services will continue to expand. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employment of lawyers is expected to grow about as fast as the average through 2014. As the population grows and the economy expands, many more lawyers and other legal personnel will be needed to focus on such areas as elder, health care, antitrust, environmental, international, and intellectual property law.
Lawyers who want to become judges will face stiff competition, although employment of judges is expected to grow as fast as the average through 2014. The continuing public concerns about crime, safety, and efficient administration of justice should spur demand. According to the National Law Journal, the demand for corporate attorneys is strong all over the country and especially in the Southeast. Other specialty areas experiencing growth include labor and employment, health care, intellectual property, international, and trusts and estates.
Employments for paralegals and legal assistants is expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations through 2014. They will continue to find employment in private law firms, but there will be increasing opportunities with corporate legal departments, insurance companies, real estate and title insurance firms, and banks. Paralegals who graduate from well-respected paralegal training programs and/or those with previous experience (in other words, a quality apprenticeship or internship) will find the best jobs. Employment for court reporters is expected to grow about as fast as the average through 2014 due to an increasing number of criminal court cases and civil lawsuits at both the state and federal levels.
Related Career Fields:
Related Career Cluster:
Related Careers:
- Accountant and Auditor Career
- Bail Bondsmen
- Bailiffs
- Biotechnology Patent Lawyers
- Border Patrol Officers
- Bounty Hunters
- Court Reporters
- Elder Law Attorneys
- Forensic Experts
- Intellectual Property Lawyers
- Lawyers and Judges
- Legal Nurse Consultants
- Legal Secretaries
- Paralegals
- Polygraph Examiners
- Process Servers
For More Information:
- Accounting Careers
- American Bar Association
- Association of American Law Schools
- Equal Justice Works
- Federal Bar Association (FBA)
- Law School Admission Council/Law School Admissions Services
- Legal Secretaries International Inc.
- National Association of Legal Secretaries
- National Association for Law Placement
- National Association of Legal Assistants
- National Court Reporters Association