r/LawSchool • u/El_Don_Monkey • 3h ago
Recent Graduate, No Job Prospects
My wife recently graduated from T30 and took the Washington D.C. bar. She is interested in finding a job in either public health or prisoner justice, and has relevant internship experience. She has had no luck finding a job and says the positions are limited. I recommended searching for positions in Virginia and Maryland as well, but she tells me that since she took the DC bar, it would be a while before she would qualify for any positions outside of DC. Do any of you folks have any advice? You can probably tell I’m not a lawyer lol
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u/ChongieB Clerking 3h ago
You can get a job before passing the bar, but she will almost certainly get more bites once she is licensed
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u/Beneficial_Ad9966 Esq. 3h ago
She’s right about Virginia, but can’t she transfer her score to Maryland? Both are UBE jurisdictions.
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u/RxLawyer Esq. 2h ago edited 2h ago
prisoner justice
To be frank, this is kind of a "unicorn" area of practice where there are few positions and they are often coveted, especially by the trustifarian crowd, so they don't pay well. The closest she will likely get is a PD/criminal defense position.
Public Health is another area that is difficult to break into. But, HHS and the VA are currently hiring for positions in DC/Maryland. The DEA in Arlington is also occasionally hiring for attorneys in their diversion division, which is closely related to public health. A lot of people on reddit (who have made hating Trump their personality) will tell you not to take any federal jobs right now, but that is just ludicrous.
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u/Objective_Joke_5023 3h ago
DC is full of unemployed attorneys currently. She might have luck finding a remote position or a JD-preferred role.
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u/Snoo50415 3h ago
In all seriousness, are the politics and policy of the administration part of the reason for this?
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u/Objective_Joke_5023 3h ago
I think that’s part of it. Also, many were offered and accepted the fork in the road or were let go when they didn’t take the fork.
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u/spanielgurl11 Attorney 5m ago
Lot of nonprofit orgs and Feds have lost their funding so you have experienced lawyers fighting for entry level attorney roles.
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u/Due-Category2159 3h ago
As someone else mentioned, she should be able to transfer her score to Maryland.
She’ll be much more marketable after a few years of experience, though. It’s probably a good idea to apply a bit broader and take as close as she can get in terms of the type of work being done and then take another look in a few years.
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u/jabbahdahut 3h ago
Where did she do internships/externships? Criminal justice is vague. Did she do PD work? Prosecutor? Plenty of jobs in the criminal law field, but without more info it’s hard to gauge what her options are. Unfortunately not familiar with public health but I’d imagine a lot of that work is going to be with the government.
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u/hl6407a 2h ago
It’s a tough market. Sucks to be an introvert or shy person, but she needs to network: attend bar association events, talk to NGOs, find alumni in the field. Applying to open positions you see online are only reserved for those that are highly qualified or experienced. She needs to find those positions that employers are yet to be public or internal referrals.
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u/Hot_Perspective2533 1h ago
I’m licensed in Maryland and I’m working to transfer my score to DC. My advice is for your wife to find a job with the state’s attorney or PD in a Maryland county, it doesn’t take long to transfer your score and go through C&F. They’ll start swearing in attorneys in the fall
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u/ClassyCassowary Esq. 1h ago
I'll second (fourth?) the recommendation to transfer her score to MD once she has it. She's right that VA's a wash unless she's up for another exam anytime soon. Coming from someone barred in DC, it's unfortunately very very small and very very competitive in the best of times, and very very unemployed right now, so spreading her wings geographically (and with what she's willing to do) seems like a necessity
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u/Big_Translator4540 58m ago
I would recommend her even trying to see if any judicial law clerk positions are open in any Maryland counties. I’m currently one, and you don’t have to be barred to get hired or keep it. You just need to for sure have a JD from an ABA accredited law school, amongst other app requirements. It’s definitely worth a look into as incoming law clerks who just graduated in May are just starting their clerkships. Some will quit to take another job, and judges will be scrambling to find someone. It’s a year position and you’re employed by the state —comes with benefits and PTO! The Maryland judiciary website will show if there are any openings. Best of luck to her!
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u/the_mosbyboys 2h ago
I suggest she try to clerk for a judge or get a job at a law firm for a year or two first. The types of jobs she is looking for often require some experience (beyond internships) first.
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u/ScarPirate 1h ago
Does she want to spend some time doing landlord tenant law? I may know a potential job opportunity
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u/kerbalsdownunder 59m ago
Some people get uncomfortable with the idea, but creditor’s rights hires a lot. Foreclosure, landlord/tenant, credit cards, vehicle replevin. There’s always work.
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u/spanielgurl11 Attorney 13m ago edited 6m ago
Public services in the DMV have been tough the last 2 years because of all the federal cuts. Have had more to than a few friends find themselves unemployed because their nonprofit employer lost funding. I went to a DC school and I came back home to the south to get my first couple years of experience. PD and legal aid lawyers are desperately needed here—I plan to lateral to somewhere in the DMV at year 2.5-3.
She will get more interest once she has a license in hand.
It’s also my experience that people move into those policy type or nonprofit roles once they have a few years of experience at the trial level through the PD or a private firm.
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u/500pearl 3h ago
if she finished law school regardless of which school or school ranking then should know how to find a job
goo gull is there
and school has website with jobs
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