Ex
Judicata
recently
attended
the
National
Association
for
Law
Placement’s
annual
convention. Fifteen
hundred
career
services
professionals
from
law
firms
and
law
schools
were
in
attendance. There
is
bad
news
and
good
news. The
bad
news:
many
law
firms
and
law
schools
still
do
not
have
a
handle
on
assisting
lawyers
who
want
to
transition
to
nonlegal
careers.
Nowhere
was
this
more
apparent
than
at
a
session
on
J.D.
Advantage
Careers
featuring
Ex
Judicata’s
own
Kim
Fine
joined
by
leaders
from
Baker
&
Hosteler,
Lubrizol
Corporation,
and
Ava
Maria
School
of
Law.
For
the
uninitiated,
J.D.
Advantage
is
a
designation
which
has
been
around
for
decades
and
speaks
to
nonlegal
careers
where
having
a
law
degree
is
an
advantage.
The
session
was
standing
room
only
and
from
the
questions
and
line
of
people
waiting
to
talk
to
Kim
afterward
it
was
apparent
that
both
law
firms
and
law
schools
are
starting
to
realize
what
they
don’t
know
and
are
hungry
to
learn
more
about
nonlegal
options
for
J.D.s.
The
good
news:
People
like
Celestine
Oglesby
of
Ave
Maria
Law
and
the
NALP
JD
Advantage
Working
Group
(Chairs
Ellen
Dolan
of
Suffolk
Law
School
and
Cassie
Butler
of
University
of
Massachusetts
Law
School)
are
working
hard
to
change
the
status
quo
and
helping
law
students,
and
those
that
advise
them,
to
pave
nonlegal
career
paths. And
Ex
Judicata
is
proud
to
be
playing
a
role
by
continuing
to
build
exjudicata.com
That
leads
to
the
focus
of
this
month’s
column:
Part
Of
The
Foundation
Has
Already
Been
Laid
Some
very
defined
nonlegal
career
trajectories
for
J.D.s
exist,
there
to
be
pursued
by
lawyers
and
law
students
seeking
to
transition
and
those
that
advise
them.
There
are
the
tried-and-true
J.D.
Advantage
careers
in
compliance,
tax,
and
investigative
services. Over
the
past
decade,
careers
in
legal
tech
and
legal
ops
have
been
added
to
those
occupations
where
having
a
J.D.
is
a
clear
advantage
and
where
employers
actively
seek
to
hire
J.D.s
for
non-practicing
roles
There
are
also
J.D.
Adjacent
careers
in
which
having
a
J.D.
is
a
big
plus,
with
a
long
history
of
J.D.s
being
successful. But
to
date,
employers
do
not
specifically
seek
to
hire
J.D.s
for
these
careers.
This
is
essentially
the
difference
between
J.D.
Advantage
and
J.D.
Adjacent
careers.
Both
lean
heavily
on
utilizing
a
law
school
education. More
specifically,
leveraging
what
is
known
as
the
J.D.
Skill
Set.
What
Is
The
J.D.
Skill
Set?
While
no
set
definition
or
ranking
of
traits
exists,
the
skill
set
can
be
said
to
include
the
following:
-
Analytical
thinking
-
Issue
spotting
-
Risk
assessment
-
Delivering
under
pressure
-
Superb
verbal,
written,
and
presentation
skills
-
Driven
to
exceed
expectations
-
Laser
focus
on
goal
attainment
-
Stamina
to
work
very
long
hours
-
Ability
to
manage
huge
amounts
of
data/information
Let’s
look
at
some
of
these
J.D.
Adjacent
careers
that
have
been
so
welcoming
to
lawyers.
Communications.
This
includes
journalism,
marketing,
public
relations,
and
crisis
management. Talk
about
places
to
utilize
the
J.D.
skill
set!
Sales.
There
is
a
common
misperception
that
lawyers
cannot
sell,
possibly
from
a
mistaken
belief
that
lawyering
is
very
different
from
selling.
But
is
it?
What
makes
a
great
salesperson?
The
ability
to
spot
a
client’s
problem
before
the
client
does
and
proactively
provide
a
solution
…
and
what
are
lawyers
trained
to
do,
issue
spot.
And
what
about
those
lawyers
seeking
to
transition
to
nonlegal
careers
with
courtroom
experience? If
you
can
sell
a
jury
or
a
judge
under
the
pressure
of
a
trial,
you
can
essentially
sell
anything. Because
you
know
how
to
tell
a
story
and
read
emotions.
Insurance.
Outside
of
the
Big
4
accounting
firms,
no
other
employer
offers
more
nonlegal
career
paths
for
lawyers
than
insurance
companies. There
are
many
defined
paths:
-
Risk
analysis
-
Risk
management
- Underwriting
All
of
these
insurance
careers
are
welcoming
to
J.D.s.
Wealth
Management.
Perhaps
no
J.D.
Adjacent
career
is
growing
faster
than
wealth
management.
Law
and
finance
intersect
in
several
areas,
including: estate
planning,
investments,
tax
strategies,
and
planned
giving.
Whether
advising
individuals,
family
offices,
or
institutions,
lawyers
are
well-equipped
to
pivot
to
careers
in
wealth
management
because
analyzing
and
synthesizing
complex
information
is
crucial
to
developing
tailored
financial
strategies.
The
combination
of
analytical
skills,
attention
to
detail,
strong
communication,
legal
knowledge,
ethical
standards,
and
entrepreneurial
spirit
makes
lawyers
well-suited
to
careers
as
financial
advisors.
Ex
Judicata
has
a
free
(no
strings
attached
or
sales
calls)
hour-long
webinar,
“If
I
Leave
the
Law…Careers
in
Wealth
Management,
on
May
7
from
1
p.m.
to
2
p.m.
ET.
You
can
access
other
free
career-specific
webinars
in
our
“If
I
Leave
the
Law…”
series
here.
For
those
at
the
beginning
of
their
quest
for
a
nonlegal
career,
another
version
of
our
EXJ
Career
Transformation
Workshop,
this
one
virtual,
is
coming
up
June
23. Stay
tuned
to
learn
more.
Coming
up
next
month
in
“The
Great
Escape”: It’s
not
just
young
lawyers
interested
in
leaving
law
for
business. It’s
partners
and
general
counsels
too. Find
out
why
and
how
next
month.
Neil
Handwerker
and
Kimberly
Fine
are
the
co-founders
of
ex
judicata,
a
website
providing
information,
resources,
webinars,
coaching,
money
management,
and
inspirational
content
for
lawyers
and
law
students
interested
in
moving
to
nonlegal
careers. This
is
their
second
startup
together.
Feel
free
to
email them
with
any
questions
or
suggestions
or
connect
with
them
on LinkedIn.