How to Make It: 5 Legal Careers for the Nonlawyer

The thriving legal market can provide opportunities and lucrative careers for those without a law degree. The five most popular legal careers include: paralegals and legal assistants, compliance specialists, mediators, electronic discovery specialists and court reporters.

Paralegals and legal assistants research, manage case details, and help with trial preparation. They also communicate with clients, though they cannot give legal advice.

Compliance specialists have been in demand since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002 made regulatory compliance an important area of the law. Compliance specialists monitors and coordinates regulatory documents required by changes in the federal law. 

Electronic Discovery specialists manage electronic data to facilitate legal discovery, and the field includes e-discovery directors, managers and analysts. The roles usually require a background in information technology.

Mediators, or arbitrators or conciliators, help people and companies settle disputes outside of court. While mediators are not lawyers, mediators attempt to achieve consensus between two sides is mutually beneficial. Alternative dispute resolution tends to be an economical alternative to litigating in court.

Court reporters transcribe proceedings at more than 200 words a minute. They can also do captioning in real time for webcasts. Salaries have increased for court reporters as they remain in demand.

Are you interested in learning more about other careers in the legal field? Read more in this law.com article.