Jobs in the field of Law

[airbornemike]

What job(s) should I apply to so that I can gain experience in the law field?

[FalconJimmy]

What job(s) should I apply to so that I can gain experience in the law field?

Mike, I think the reason you're getting so little response is that it's just hard to find any job right now.  I presume you were/are Army.  I think 71d is legal admin.  You could always do a BEAR program on that, but that'd take up a lot of time.

Obviously, something like paralegal or legal secretary, or something of that sort would probably get you closest to the action, but I bet those jobs are tough to get right now. 

Personally, I think law isn't so different than most jobs.  Granted, it's not working on a factory floor, but an attorney's day probably isn't that different than an accountant's.  Lots of review of documents, lots of preparation of documents, lots of time working at a desk, quite a few interruptions during the day to answer questions from various parties. 

People like to act like working in the law is soooo unlike any other job that you MUST WORK IN THE LAW to get an idea.  I don't know what type of work experience those people had, but personally, I don't see it.  Granted, I don't have any real-world experience working in the law, but on the other hand, folks who demand that you work ONLY IN THE LAW BECAUSE NO OTHER WORK IS LIKE WORK IN THE LAW probably haven't worked much in other fields, either.

[CWFirm]

I would have to agree with FalconJimmy.  Look for jobs as a paralegal or legal secretary.  Availability of those types of jobs probably depends on where you're looking.  You don't specify why you're looking for jobs in the legal field.  Your long term goals may affect whether or not it makes since to apply for jobs outside the legal field.  While FalconJimmy may be right that the work is similar, it's also true that many lawyers believe, perhaps unrightfully, that nothing is like working in law.  If you're ultimately trying to gain the respect of those in the law, probably best to keep that in mind.

[cooley3L]

Depends on where you want to do it.

For what it's worth, it dosn't add much to the law school application, and it dosn't increase the grades in class much either. It does increase the odds of being a Gunner first term though, seen that a few times from people with "real world experience" but still end up in the middle of the class rankings once grades are posted.

[SoCalLawGuy]

If you apply for a job as a paralegal (and also get the job, of course) you could gain a lot of experience in the law field. Paralegals deal with  a lot of problems lawyers prefer not to so the experience you gain is good.