Year after year, you see lawyers walk away from the courtroom to look for alternative career options. Perhaps they’ve grown tired of the courtroom drama or have found out that the profession is simply not suited for them. But even if you turn your back to the legal practice, there are opportunities that you can explore. Years of intensive research and putting your critical thinking skills to test wouldn’t be thrown out the window, when there are industries that highly value the skills set of a lawyer. Here are some career alternatives:
Career in education
You can use your legal experience, training, and extensive knowledge on the field of law through teaching in universities or even paralegal colleges in the country. You may also consider positions in academic administration or non-teaching positions where legal training could be an asset such as in career services, law libraries, or admissions.
Career in government and politics
Legally-trained professionals can assume important positions in the government, since policy-making, research, legal interpretation and implementation are tenets of public service. With thorough understanding of the legal framework, lawyers also make good candidates for political positions, from mayors to state officials. As a good strategist, you can also become a successful campaign manager, lobbyist, or fundraiser.
Career in publishing
Your writing and research skills will prove useful in the field of publishing. You can be a writer for legal publications, be an author of books or articles about legal topics, or even be a newspaper columnist. Aside from publishing companies, other industries will also benefit from hiring a skilled writer. You can be an editor, publisher, or a trusted media personality.
Career in business
Your training as a lawyer can be a valuable asset in business. For banking and finance, you can assume roles as a risk manager if you specialize in tax, banking law, trusts, and securities. You can also be an arbitrator or mediator, resolving conflicts for different organizations, or head the HR department or become a training manager. Some lawyers have also become successful entrepreneurs themselves because of their ability to analyze risks and carefully plan every business move through research.
Is it your first time to write a personal statement for law school? Well, you should not be nervous and anxious. There are ways that could make the writing process less difficult. Boston College has some tips. Read on.
Brainstorm and plan your personal statement law school
Before you write, think expansively and then plan deliberately. Consider the times in your life that most vividly reflect your character and personality, or that demonstrate your commitment and initiative.
Present yourself as someone who has made decisions based on informed choices. Show that you are self-aware and self-directed.
Explore ways to generate interest and achieve clarity.
Create an impression and make a memory for the reader. Remember, you are advocating for yourself.
Freewriting – writing for a set amount of time without stopping and with no thought to grammar or spelling – may help you start or help you generate new ideas.
You have to jot down everything that crosses your mind. You can select and organize these ideas later to use freewriting effectively.
Think of your style and structure
Start by setting your style and structure. Titles and epigraphs (quotations at the beginning of your essay) are not advisable and can be distracting.
The essay should have an introduction, paragraphs with a topic sentence, and a conclusion.
Write a working introduction just to get started. The introduction you actually use may be the last part of the essay that you write.
Develop a narrative that flows logically and supports a theme.
While the final essay should be about two pages long, early drafts will vary in length. Start by getting the main elements of the story you want to tell down on paper, then edit or expand the piece.
The conclusion should summarize the points you want to convey and re-affirm your intentions.
You have to keep in mind that an excellent personal law school is more than an interesting content. A good essay is also written in an excellent style and is well-structured.
The essay should be written through your own voice
The essay does not have to be dramatic or heroic. Your intelligence will become evident through a broad perspective that indicates your understanding and specific perceptions that demonstrate your insight.
Write about something you like or something you know. Be willing to start over if your theme isn’t working out.
Don’t teach, don’t preach, and don’t make a speech. Your readers believe they know what the law is and what lawyers do.
If you enjoy writing the piece, it will show and your audience will enjoy reading it.
Your own voice is very important in getting your message across the readers. However, make sure you express your own voice in the right way.
The most important thing to do is to write with sincerity and honesty. The Carnegie Mellon University recommends that you should be sincere and honest:
All the best essays will be both honest and direct.
- Don’t attempt to guess at what you think people want to hear.
- Sincerity and truthfulness should be clearly evident.
Some applicants, because of their fervent wish to get accepted into their dream school, forget the importance of sincerity and truthfulness. This leads to essays that don’t reflect their personalities at all. You should avoid committing this mistake in order for your essay to achieve its one true goal — get you admitted into your dream school.
To sum up everything, you have to plan your essay. Think about what to include and exclude in your essay. You should also decide on the writing style. And make sure that you use your own voice when you tell your story.
Is it your fervent dream to get into law school? You have to know that one of the best ways to get to the law school of your dream is to write an interesting admission essay. California State University shares some important reminders when you write a personal statement for law school.
Limit the pages for your personal statement law school
Write an essay that is no more than two pages, double-spaced (one page single-spaced) in length when formatted with normal 12 point font and one-inch margins.
Because of the limitations on the page, you have to make sure that you include only very important details. These details should not be the details found on your resume and application form.
Show your excellent qualities
SHOW traits like motivation, maturity, enthusiasm, honesty, independence, perseverance, creativity, passion, strong personal ethics, confidence, and appropriate humor. However, while emphasizing such strengths, be careful not to be obnoxious or arrogant. If you balance your essay by addressing a personal weakness, do so without being defensive.
Your essay is your chance to sell yourself. This is why you have to include your strengths. If you can’t avoid discussing your weaknesses in your essay, make sure you don’t sound too pitiful or defensive.
Write a personal statement law school intro that could grab attention
Start your essay with an attention-grabbing lead: an anecdote, quote, question, or engaging description of a scene.
The introduction gives you a chance to grab your readers’ attention. This is why you have to write a very interesting introduction. The The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shares some interesting thoughts about writing an introduction:
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. The opening paragraph of your paper will provide your readers with their initial impressions of your argument, your writing style, and the overall quality of your work. A vague, disorganized, error-filled, off-the-wall, or boring introduction will probably create a negative impression. On the other hand, a concise, engaging, and well-written introduction will start your readers off thinking highly of you, your analytical skills, your writing, and your paper. This impression is especially important when the audience you are trying to reach (your instructor) will be grading your work.
Your introduction is very important because its the first thing that the admissions panel will read. A boring introduction usually leads to a boring essay.
You have to remember these reminders when writing a personal statement that could get you into the law school of your dreams. Again, show your excellent qualities, limit the length of your essay, and write a very interesting personal statement. When you write your essay, pay particular attention to the introduction. The intro will create a good first and lasting impression on the admissions panel. However, you should also exert effort in writing the body and conclusion.
Law school is an arena of tight competitions. From the application process, you will experience the tight competitions that will continue until you graduate. But before talking about graduating with a law degree, you have to focus first on how to get admitted into the law school that you’ve been dreaming of. Athen’s Learning Blog gives some tips on how to enter law school by writing a winning admission essay. Read the article to know some of these tips.
Use an authentic voice in your personal statement law school
Somewhat related to being honest is using your authentic voice. Sound like yourself. Now, don’t use a lot of slang and become too informal, but don’t try to sound like Shakespeare either. Use your own words instead of those written by someone from the 1800s.
Use a language that would be understood by people from all walks of life. Do not use cliche and highfalutin words because they can make your essay sound archaic and superficial.
Be sincere and honest on your admissions essay
One of the biggest mistakes students make is trying to say what they think the department wants to hear. They write a lot of flowery B.S. that the professors can see right through. Be yourself and tell the truth about who you are, what you expect from the program, and what you want to do with your life.
Talk about who you really are and not about who the admissions panel wants you to be. Remember that the admissions committee has a way of seeing through your lies.
Make your essay engaging
When you write your personal statement, tell your story. Give specific examples and stories of the situations that made you believe what you believe and made you want to get into this specific profession in the first place.
You have to make your essay very engaging from the beginning up to the end. You can do this by telling a story instead of enumerating accomplishments and events. You can also find helpful advice regarding this on this site:
You should not rehash your resume. Strive to make you and your life experience vivid in ways that complement the resume instead.
You also have to organize your details well.
Organize those telling details to help you articulate the core elements sketched above. Develop a logical narrative thread that will tie the paragraphs together.
Your personal statement for law school is one of the keys to make your dreams of pursuing a career in law come true. This is why you have to write a notable personal statement. Again, you have to be honest, original, and engaging in your essay.
Getting admitted into law school is not very easy. Law school is a very competitive arena for people like you. You can get better chances of getting admitted into the law school of your dreams if you write a personal statement law school that could grab the attention of the people who will decide, which is the admissions committee. The KPJT Law blog shares some interesting insights about writing a law school personal statement.
Purpose of a personal statement for law school
Consider the purpose of a law school personal statement, which is two-fold. First, you must try to convince an admissions committee that your accomplishments are worthy of consideration. Second, you need to prove that you are not only lawyer material, but you are also a perfect addition to the student body at that particular institution.
The goal of your essay is to provide evidence for these two claims. Emotional appeal won’t really work, so this is why you need to resort to logical argument that would prove your point that you deserve to be in a law school.
The presentation of your evidence
The admissions committee is your jury, and they need to see the proof that backs up your arguments. I work hard is not an evidentiary statement. How do you work hard? How have you demonstrated your work ethic throughout your lifetime, particularly in your undergraduate studies and employment? Your college grades at your undergraduate school will provide some evidence as to how hard a worker you are. Sharing your experiences in the workplace will too.
This means that you have to show and not just tell. You need to be specific in presenting your evidence. Don’t resort to vague generalities for this could weaken your argument.
More helpful tips
The second part of your essay needs to persuade your jury that you are a fit for that school. What is it about the institution that attracted you in the first place? For example, if the law school you are making application to has a strong commitment to encouraging pro bono work, describe why this appeals to you. Follow that by sharing related volunteer work that you’ve done.
You have to show to the admissions committee that you are not a fish out of the water. You need to make them see that you fit in perfectly in that specific community.
Aside from this, there are other more tips that could help you make a winning essay. The Time to Edit Blog gives another useful piece of advice.
Provide explanations where necessary, but avoid making excuses. If you feel the need to explain, for example, a pattern of low grades at the beginning of your college career, or a change in your major, consider creating an addendum to your application to address this topic briefly and separately from the body of your personal statement.
Making excuses will give an impression of immaturity. As much as possible, talk about the brighter things in your essay.
Before you write your personal statement law school, weigh your goals and purposes. After you have done this, you have to show strong evidence of why you deserve to be in that specific law school. Make sure that you persuade the jury of your worthiness through your admission essay.
