Military Personnel Working in the Law
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As military personnel are often interested in entering law enforcement, the legal profession is a related industry with the potential for a much higher starting salary. Whether you are looking to pass the Bar in your home state, you want paralegal certification, or other profession, there are high-quality and high-demand legal programs available at online and on-campus universities.
Passing the BarFirst, did you know that you can practice as a lawyer without getting an advanced legal degree? All that is required is that you pass the bar. While this isn’t exactly recommended, it does mean that you can be flexible in how you tackle your legal education. If you are interested primarily in passing the bar exam, there are online and on-campus programs that are aimed specifically at passing the bar, without having to earn a Master’s, Juris Doctor Degree, or other advanced degree.
However, it should be noted that it can be difficult to bring in new clients without a completed degree program. In addition, a degree program opens up the number of job opportunities, as anAssociate’s, Bachelor’s, or Master’s degree program trains each student for legal management and other marketable skills.
What’s Out There: Legal Programs On and OfflineIf you’re going the more traditional route, there are degree programs, beginning with a Bachelor’s Degree. Sample degrees include a Bachelor’s in Legal Studies and Legal Studies/Health Care. A major advantage of online degree programs is that they are job-specific. For instance, a legal/health care degree is a far different discipline than legal/entertainment law.
The Juris Doctor degree revolves around legal issues in the tax, labor, and corporate sector. The course curriculum will cover tax law, property law, constitutional law, and other legal subjects, depending on your focus. As a subheading to those subjects, students can study how each applies to health care, antitrust, environmental, and other disciplines. If you are unsure about which wing of the legal profession is right for you, a career assessment calculator can narrow down the legal program you should pursue.
Paralegal DegreesThe paralegal degree is a highly popular degree program, as it allows students to continue working in the legal profession, perhaps as a legal secretary/assistant, while studying to receive a more advanced degree. Paralegal certification can add 10 or 20 thousand dollars to yearly paycheck, and sometimes much more. In some cases a paralegal can earn as much as a fully-credentialed attorney with only a fraction of the educational requirements.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the paralegal profession is set to grow at a faster pace than the demand for attorneys. The main reason is that paralegals are hired to complete tasks normally completed by attorneys for a lower fee. Paralegals generally work at law firms and can command a high starting salary. Other employment opportunities for paralegals include government agencies and corporate legal departments.
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