Gallagher Law Library - UW School of Law

Getting the Scoop on Jobs & Careers

Updated Dec. 29, 2008.
Prepared by Mary Whisner.

You need information at all stages of your career planning and job search, from your first tentative musings about what sort of job might be a good fit for you to your preparation for a big interview or the decision about whether to accept an offer. This guide suggests some sources and search tips.

Note that you might use the same source or type of information at different stages, for different purposes. For instance, Martindale-Hubbell and West's Legal Directory can be useful when you are:

  • gathering information about a type of practice or community
  • looking for lawyers who might be willing to talk to you in an informational interview
  • looking for employers to apply to preparing for a job interview.

Learning about Legal Careers

Websites

ABA Career Counsel

Lawjobs.com (part of American Lawyer Media) offers a Career Center with legal job ads.

Monster.com offers a variety of features. Career Advice has articles about job-hunting and work life.

Vault offers articles, career advice, and job ads. Choose Law under Industries for links to articles, law firm directories, and other job-hunting advice.

Findlaw's Career Center has an extensive array of articles, career advice and job ads.

Greedy Associates features a job board and message boards.

The ABA's Market Research Department offers statistics on the legal profession. There's a lot more to the practice of law than big firms: nearly 50% of lawyers in private practice are in solo practice!

The Gallagher Law Library staff have collected items from their Law Library news column in a page of Legal Career Tips.

Books on the Practice of Law & Legal Careers Generally

American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, The 101 Practice Series: Breaking Down the Basics. KF297.A76 2008 at Classified Stacks

Deborah Arron, What Can You Do With A Law Degree? A Lawyer's Guide to Career Alternatives Inside, Outside & Around the Law (5th ed. 2004). KF297.A872 2004 at Reference Area & Classified Stacks

Steven C. Bennett, The Path to Partnership: A Guide for Junior Associates (2004). KF300.B36 2004 at Classified Stacks

K. Charles Cannon, The Ultimate Guide to Your Legal Career: What Every Young Lawyer Must Know to Avoid the Mistakes and Maximize the Value of a Career in the Law (2007). KF297.C327 2007 at Classified Stacks

Karen Clanton, ed., Dear Sisters, Dear Daughters: Words of Wisdom from Multicultural Women Attorneys Who've Been There and Done That (ABA, 2000). KF299.M56D43 2000 at Classified Stacks

Ursula Furi-Perry, Fifty Unique Legal Paths: How to Find the Right Job (ABA, 2008). KF297.F87 2008 at Classified Stacks.

Miriam Bamberger Grogan & Heather Bradley, Judge for Yourself: Clarity, Choice and Action in Your Legal Career (ABA 2006). KF298.G76 2006 at Classified Stacks

Gary A. Hengstler, Making Work Work for You (ABA, 2001). KF318.H46 2001 at Classified Stacks

Mark Herrmann, The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law (ABA, 2006). KF300.H47 2006 at Classified Stacks

Carl Horn, III, Lawyerlife: Finding a Life and a Higher Calling in the Practice of Law (2003). KF297.H67 2003 at Classified Stacks

Kay Kavanagh & Paula Nailon, Excellence in the Workplace: Legal & Life Skills in a Nutshell (2007). KF297.Z9 K38 2007 at Reference Area

Kathy Morris & Jill Eckert, Ask the Career Counselors: Answers for Lawyers on Their Lives and Life's Work (ABA, 2003). KF297.Z9M674 2000 at Classified Stacks

Gary A. Munneke, The Legal Career Guide: From Law Student to Lawyer (4th ed. ABA, 2002). KF297.M86 2002 at Reference Area

Deborah Schneider & Gary Belsky, Should You Really Be a Lawyer? The Guide to Smart Career Choices Before, During & After Law School (2005). KF297.S36 2005 at Classified Stacks

Susan R. Sneider, A Lawyer's Guide to Networking (2006). KF316.5.S64 2006 at Classified Stacks

Kimm Alayne Walton, What Law School Doesn't Teach You--But You Really Need To Know: Expert Tips & Strategies For Making Your Legal Career a Huge Success (2000). KF297.W344 2000 at Reference Area

Kimm Alayne Walton, Guerrilla Tactics for Getting the Legal Job of Your Dreams (1999). KF297.W34 1999 at Reference Area & Classified Stacks

For more books in the Gallagher Law Library, click on this link: Law - Vocational Guidance - United States.

Also try these related searches:

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Books on Careers Generally (Not Just Law)

Pam Gross & Peter Paskill, Want a New, Better, Fantastic Job? How to Find Satisfying Work in This Topsy-Turvy World (2d ed. 2001). HF5382.7.G76 2001 at Classified Stacks

Po Bronson, What Should I Do with My Life? The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question (2003). BF637.S4B869 2003 at Classified Stacks

Nonlegal Careers

Gary A. Munneke, William D. Henslee & Elaine S. Wayne, Nonlegal Careers for Lawyers (5th ed. ABA, 2006). KF297.M85 2006 at Reference Area

Deborah Aaron, Running from the Law: Why Good Lawyers Are Getting out of the Legal Profession (2004). KF297.A87 2004 at Reference Area

Deborah Aaron, What Can You Do with a Law Degree? A Lawyer's Guide to Career Alternatives Inside, Outside, and Around the Law (5th ed. 2004). KF297.A872 2004 at Reference Area & Classified Stacks

No Law Degree Required

Ursula Furi-Perry, Fifty Legal Careers for Non-Lawyers (ABA, 2008). KF320.L4 F87 2007

For more books in the Gallagher Law Library, click on this link: "vocational guidance" and "united states."

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Periodicals

Skimming local or national bar publications and legal newspapers can help you get to know different types of practice. They often have articles about practice, articles about attorneys, and profiles of firms.

Washington State Bar News. Monthly.  KF332.W3W354, current at Reference Area
For essays about solo practice, search the archives for "Jeff Tolman."

De Novo (WSBA's Young Lawyers Division). Six times a year. KF332.W3W359d, current issues at Reference Area

Bar Bulletin (King County Bar Association). Monthly. Current issues at Newspapers

Trial News (Washington State Trial Lawyers Association). Monthly. Current issues at Newspapers

National Law Journal. Weekly. Current issues at Newspapers
LexisNexis
Westlaw

American Lawyer. Monthly. Current issues at Newspapers
LexisNexis
Westlaw

ABA Journal. Monthly. Current issues at Reference Area (display shelves)
LexisNexis
Westlaw

Student Lawyer (ABA Law Student Division). Monthly. KF287.S77, current issues at Reference Area

GPSOLO (ABA General Practice, Solo, and Small Firm Section). KF297.A1C65 at Classified Stacks

Corporate Counsel (WSBA Corporate Law Department Section). KF332.W3W359co at Classified Stacks

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Advice about the Job Search Process

Kathy Morris, Objection Overruled: Overcoming Obstacles in the Lawyer Job Search (ABA, 2000). KF297Z9 M67 2000 at Classified Stacks

J. Murray Elwood, The Legal Career Guru's Guide to the Perfect Legal Resume (2000). KF297.E48 2000 at Reference Area

Heidi McNeil Staudenmaier, ed., Changing Jobs: A Handbook for Lawyers for the New Millennium (3d ed. ABA, 1999). KF297.C42 1999 at Reference Area

Many of the books listed above (Books on the Practice of Law and Legal Careers Generally) include advice about the job search.

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Information about Law Firms & Attorneys

National Association for Law Placement, NALP Directory. Available in UW School of Law Center for Career Planning and Public Service
Contains detailed profiles of thousands of firms (and other employers) that hire law students. Online version is searchable.

Firm websites

  • See links at Greedy Associates.
  • Find URL in directory listings (e.g., West's Legal Directory).
  • Use a search engine.

Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. Annual. KF190.M3 at Reference Area

  • Attorney directory from Martindale. Search for individuals or firms. Limit by location, practice type, etc.
  • Law firms in Martindale Directory
  • LexisNexis (Legal > Reference > Martindale-Hubbell(R))
    • More flexible than the web version. Use that flexibility to focus your searching - either for applications or for leads for informational interviews.
    • Tip: use "Restrict by Segment."
    • Sample searches
      • To look for medium-sized firms in Colorado, choose "CO Listings" and search for firm size < (60) and firm size > (10).
      • To look for New York lawyers who went to your college, choose "NY Listings" and search for college (reed) and admitted aft (1995).
      • To find California firms that represent big newspapers, choose "CA Listing" and search for clients (los angeles times or san francisco chronicle or san francisco examiner or sacramento bee or san jose mercury or san diego union-tribune).
      • To find lawyers who clerked for a judge you had a successful externship with, search for text (clerk! w/5 coughenour).

West's Legal Directory

  • Findlaw's Lawyer Directory is the web version. Search by practice area and location or by name.
  • Westlaw
    • WLD - lawyers, law firms, and judges in U.S., Canada, and Europe
    • WLD-CA, WLD-WA etc. - state databases
    • WLD-ENV, WLD-FAM, etc. - practice area databases.
    • More flexible than the web version. Use that flexibility to focus your searching - either for applications or for leads for informational interviews.
    • Use template or standard (terms & connectors) search.
    • Sample searches
      • To look for smallish California firms that represent labor unions, choose WLD-CA; in the template, enter Area of Law: labor; Firm Size: 11-25; Representative Clients: union* or local. (You'll get some false drops - "Union Bank" and "American Civil Liberties Union" - but you'll also get good examples of what you're looking for.)
      • To find UW law grads practicing in Hawaii, choose WLD-HI; in the template, enter Law School Information: "university of washington".
      • To find Washington attorneys who list their volunteer work with organizations you've had externships with, choose WLD-WA, and enter as a standard search: "northwest women's law center" or "american civil liberties union" or aclu.
      • To search for UW law grads who are government attorneys in Western states, choose WLD-GOV; in the template enter State: wa or ca id nv az ak [remember that Westlaw reads a space as "or"] and Law School Information: "university of washington".

Note: Martindale-Hubbell and West's Legal Directory are both incomplete. Some lawyers and law firms just don't fill out the forms to be listed. Sometimes one has information that the other doesn't. They tend to be more complete for law firms, especially larger firms. They are spottier for government and corporate counsel.

Avvo offers attorneys the opportunity to post their own profiles, and it offers clients and others the opportunity to rate attorneys. It includes at least some information about every lawyer in a state, and for many lawyers it will have quite a bit.

Washington State Bar Association's online directory is here. It gives basic contact information, date of admission, and membership status.

To find more:

  • Search organization websites.
    • E.g., searching the Washington State Bar Association site might tell you that an attorney has served on a committee or written a letter to the editor in the Bar News.
    • E.g., searching the ACLU of Washington's site might yield press releases mentioning a cooperating attorney or even pleadings he or she drafted.
  • Search for news stories.
  • If attorneys are litigators, search in case databases for their cases. E.g.,  
    • Westlaw: at(hugh /2 spitzer)
    • LexisNexis: counsel(helen w/2 anderson)
  • See People-Finding

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Information about Government Agencies

See the Gallagher guide on Government Work.

Information about Public Interest Groups

  • Public Service Law Network Worldwide (PSLawNet). Click on "Sign up now" and register.
  • Encyclopedia of Associations. Available on Westlaw (EOA). Profiles thousands of nonprofit organizations.
  • Idealist.org, a project of Action without Borders, offers information about volunteer opportunities and jobs with nonprofit organizations.
  • Equal Justice Works (formerly NAPIL)
  • National Public Defender Association: "[I]ncludes positions in civil legal services, defender organizations, pro bono and public interest organizations, public interest law firms and academia."

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Information about Other Cities

City profiles Cost of living comparisons

City websites

With a quick search, you can learn a lot about a city. For example, a Google search for "tri-cities" got me to the website for the Tri-Cities Visitors and Convention Bureau. And that quickly led to a page on relocation information.

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