Are you a lawyer or attorney and you are seeking ways to earn extra income working part time? Are you fed up with the legal profession and you want to call it quit? Then below are ten alternative non-legal career ideas for lawyers and attorneys. You see, I love lawyers. I naturally have a thing for smart people and most lawyers i have met are generally smart.
But is it even possible to be in the law profession without being smart? Those qualifying examinations for entering into law schools don’t sound like something easy. So i think its right to say lawyer = smart, right? Okay, so lawyers are smart and i love lawyers but then, being a lawyer doesn’t necessarily mean you have to stick to being an attorney as a profession.
Law is a very broad career and when you study law, you are able to learn a lot of skills that are useful in other industries. Getting jobs as a lawyer or starting your own law firm is not really easy and asides that, getting clients isn’t really easy especially if you come from a country like mine where most people would rather avoid court cases.
A lot of people in Nigeria would rather settle out of court due to the slow legal process. It is even a common prayer point in churches. “pray against all court cases and legal trouble” So if we are all praying against court cases and legal troubles, how would the lawyers feed? Lol.
Anyway dear lawyers, there is nothing to worry about because there are several things you can do with your law degree that is not related to representing clients in court. You can apply your knowledge and skills in the following careers-:
Top 10 Alternative Non-Legal Careers for Lawyers and Attorneys
1. Real Estate
As a lawyer, you can become a real estate professional. You can decide to become a real estate agent who helps to link real estate developers with interested buyers or earn commission for it. This is a very lucrative business and you would find a lot of lawyers in this business. You can also become a mortgage consultant who helps people interested in buying houses to seek for loans to fund the purchase.
Eventually, you can become a developer yourself and start developing property for sale. Real estate agents earn thousands, sometimes millions yearly. Real estate agents are in high demand because everyone needs shelter, so people are consistently looking for suitable and affordable accommodation. So, as a real estate agent getting clients won’t be a problem as long as you are good at what you do, honest, helpful and you employ the right advertising skills.
2. Business registration and licensing
Thousands of new businesses spring up every month and it is a legal requirement for businesses to be duly registered and acquire the necessary license before commencing business operations. Most new business owners have faint ideas about how to go about this, so they generally rely on other people to handle this aspect for them.
As a lawyer, you are no stranger to legal procedures, so you won’t have problems with learning how to help people register their businesses and obtain necessary license. You can also become a business consultant who gives advice to business owners and assist them in securing funds for their business.
3. Public Speaking
As a trained lawyer, you shouldn’t have problems with speaking in front of a large crowd too. You can combine your intelligence and oratory skills to start a public speaking career.
4. Counselor
You can also become a counselor, offering people guidance and advice on different aspects of life. You can become a marriage counselor who offers couples advice on how to improve their relationships, a career counselor who offers students guidance and advice on the right career path for them, a relationship counselor for unmarried people or a legal counselor for people seeking legal advice.
5. Writer
You could write a book. Lawyers are generally good with reading, research and writing; so you can write a book on any topic you are passionate about. You can sell your books on eBay, amazon, social networking websites and book stores.
6. Researcher
Still speaking of lawyers and their good research skills, you could start a business that focuses on conducting research on behalf of other businesses. This research could be marketing research for multinationals and large companies, research institutes or product development companies. If you don’t mind getting a little bit dirty, you can also become a private investigator.
7. Business Planner
Entrepreneurs now recognize the importance of writing a detailed business plan before embarking on a business venture. You can use some of your analytical and research skills to help conduct feasibility studies, write a business plan and get paid for it.
8. Negotiator/Mediator
You can help people settle their disputes out of court by becoming a mediator or become a negotiator. You can also help your clients negotiate sales deals, financial deals and so on.
9. Forensic Accountant
Forensic Accountants assist lawyers to build their cases and establish facts from the financial angle. They are mostly used in cases of fraud, misappropriations, money laundering and financial corruption. So if you would prefer the financial side of things, you can opt for a career in forensic accounting instead. However, you would have to take a master’s course in forensic accounting to qualify as a forensic accountant.
10. Politician
Another option is to become a politician and be involved in state affairs although that might require a bit of reputation building which may take some few years; so contesting for a political position is not something you just wake up one day and decide to go into.
More Alternative Non-Legal Careers for Lawyers and Attorneys
There are several other alternative non-legal alternative career options for lawyers and attorneys which include-:
- Stock brokerage-: Help people buy, sell and monitor stocks.
- Legislative analyst
- Jury consultant
- Investment banking
- Deposition photographer
- FBI agent
- Detective
- Tax consultant
So dear lawyer, you don’t have to be jittery when prayer points that is against your career is raised in church. Just plaster a cute smile and your face and say (of course not loudly). Even if you won’t come to court to settle disputes, you will buy stocks, or houses, or books, or register you new business, or do all the several other positive things that lawyers could help you do.