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Career Research: Legal Career Guides in BLS Library

This guide focuses on BLS Library's career research sources, publicly accessible sources and bar association sources that are free to U.S. law students.

Quick Links to Career Guides in BLS Library & Additional BLS Career Development Center Resources

This page highlights many of BLS Library's career guides.  In each box on this page, BLS Library's books are listed alphabetically.

Legal Resumes & Cover Letters: Guides I U.S. Legal Profession: Introductions & Early Career Guides I Big Law: Books I Legal Skills: Guides I Leadership: Guides I Legal Innovation & Legal Practice Technology: Guides I Marketing: Guides I Starting & Designing a Law Practice: Guides I Specific Legal Careers: Guides 

  • Tip: To find sources on legal careers in BLS Library's SARA catalog, enter: careers + words describing a legal practice area, for example: careers sports law 

BLS students also can view videos on many types of legal careers provided by the BLS Career Development Center. 

Legal Resumes & Cover Letters: Guides

U.S. Legal Profession: Introductions, Early Career Guides & Practical Wisdom

Big Law: Books

See:

BLS Library's subscription sources Law.com and Law360.com provide legal news/analysis regarding many types of law firms (including large law firms).  Remote access requires implementation of the BLS proxy server instructions for 1 web browser.

Subscription database: Bloomberg Law News.  Includes Roy Strom's column: Big Law Business.  BLS Librarians can show you how to run search: "Big Law Business" and Strom to retrieve the author's prior columns. 

For recent data, see subscription Law.com: The 2024 Diversity ScorecardRemote access requires implementation of the BLS proxy server instructions.

Legal Innovation & Legal Practice Technology: Guides

Marketing: Guides

Starting & Designing A Law Practice: Guides

Specific Legal Careers: Guides

Academic Legal Careers/Teaching Law:

See:

Association of American Law Schools, Becoming a Law Teacher

SSRN, Legal Scholarship Network Job Openings

Administrative Law:

See:

American Bar Association, Section of Administrative Law & Practice, Careers in Administrative Law (Dec. 5, 2022), which includes new/updated (in 2017) chapters to the book Careers in Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice (2010), such as:

Animal Law:

See:

BLS Library guide page: Animal Law: Careers

Arbitration:

Business & Corporate Law:

See:

Yale Law School: Career Pathways: Business: In-House Legal Practice

Compliance:

BLS students: BLSConnect > Career > Manuals and Handouts includes multiple sources under career topic: Compliance.

Tip: Many of BLS Library's compliance resources focus on a specific practice area.  Examples: Bloomberg Law: Banking & Finance Practice Center > Fintech Compliance, Corporate Practice Center > Compliance and Litigation Intelligence Center: Practical Guidance: AML Compliance.

One introductory e-book in BLS Library is:

Criminal Law & Criminal Justice:

See:

Yale Law School, Career Guides: Criminal Defense & Criminal Prosecution

Entertainment Law:

Health Law:

See:

American Bar Association, Section of Health Law, What Is Health Law? (series of 1-hour webinars on health law careers/the healthcare industry)

International Law:

BLS students: BLSConnect > Career > Manuals and Handouts includes an International Law Handout authored by the BLS Career Development Center.

BLS students: Because BLS is an ASIL Academic Partner, ASIL offers:

  • Dedicated "Careers in International Law" training sessions
  • Free registration (for BLS law students) to ASIL's Midyear Meeting

Intellectual Property Law:

BLS students: BLSConnect > Career > Manuals and Handouts includes Intellectual Property Law Resources.

Litigation:

Public Interest Law:

BLS students: BLSConnect > Career > Manuals and Handouts includes many sources under career topic: Government.

See also:

PSJD: Your Pathway to Public Service Legal Careers page: Explore Advice

Yale Law School, Career Pathways: Public Interest

Real Estate Law:

BLS students: BLSConnect > Career > Manuals and Handouts includes Planning for a Real Estate Career authored by the BLS Career Development Center.

Sports Law:

Trusts and Estates Law:

See:

Career Advice & Planning Articles in this BLS Library guide: Grace Wagner, Wills, Trusts & Estates