Now that you know who you are and what you have to offer, or, to state it in marketing terms, what your product is, you need to develop a list of potential workplaces; i.e., your target population. Since you have already decided on a geographic region, your search will be more focused, more efficient, more productive, and more likely to result in finding a satisfying opportunity.
Let's use an example to show how you can take advantage of all of these references in your job search. Suppose you want to practice in the area of family law with a focus on the problems of women and children in a traditional setting; i.e., a group legal practice concentrating on both litigation and mediation.
Staff at your law school's career office or your Alumni/ae Office should have the list of alumni/ae in family law as on-line fields (so they can be available to the dean and the development office to solicit contributions by area of practice). I recommend clients use www.lawyers.com to find who practices in their field of choice (narrower fields can be found by clicking on "Choose from a List") to develop a list of attorneys.
Look for your law school's: listing of small firm family law practices; national, state, and local bar associations and minority or women's bar associations which all may have their own family law section; specialty bar associations, such as the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers or the Academy of Family Mediators and juvenile law committees of these associations; family court dockets; and family service officers. Your law school should also have developed a list of mentors, alumni/ae who have offered to provide career guidance to the students at the law school. Most mentors will likely 9even though they have not been asked) to help out fellow alums. Compile a list of those who practice family law.
Your own circle of family and friends is easily expanded to include friends of your parents, your spouse's family, your coworkers' friends, a friend of a friend from college days, and so forth. Many of these acquaintances will know someone who practices family law or juvenile law, have been involved in a case themselves or know someone who has, or have a cousin who works for a lawyer as a paralegal, etc.
As you continue to enlist the help of friends, family, other students, law school faculty and staff, alumni, and practicing lawyers you will be amazed at how much easier it is for them to lead you to other resources if, rather than saying, "Can you help me find a job, any job", you say "I want to help victims of spousal abuse. Who represents them?"
These resources may lead to potential employers or further information - a book, an article, a video, or an organization - which can help you locate them. Remember: most jobs are obtained via personal contacts.
Suppose you would like to work on environmental issues. What often happens in law school is that those interested in environmental law interview at large law firms and discover that practice in this area involves working on large real estate projects. Read about the breadth and depth of environmental law practice in FindLaw or in The Environmental Directory www.webdirectory.com; for example, thousands of lawyers represent those sick and injured by pollution and other toxic products.
Find them as suggested above. Also ask faculty in that field to refer you to practitioners. Once you recognize that the goal is to find those who are doing what you want to do, you will quickly discover other resources. Although the search for your chosen area, be it immigration, family law, education law, elderly law, environmental justice, or criminal law, will ultimately lead to different resources, the approach will be the same.
Researching Potential Employers is part of our ongoing Career Planning Series with Ronald W. Fox, Esq.
Previous installments include:
Understanding Career Planning
Evaluating Experience and Skills
Narrowing Your Options
Finding Your Area of Practice Preference
Is Solo Practice Right for You?
How to Search for a Satisfying Position
Packaging Yourself
The "Six Bullet" Resume
Ronald W. Fox is the principal of Career Planning for Lawyers. Since 1990, he has provided individual guidance to law students and lawyers in transition helping them search for and locate positions consistent with their personal values and their professional goals.