Which describes your research need?
- I AM NOT SURE WHICH FIELDS OF LAW I AM MOST INTERESTED IN, AND WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT DIFFERENT PRACTICE AREAS.
- I AM INTERESTED IN A CERTAIN TYPE OF PRACTICE, AND WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT IT.
- I HAVE A PARTICULAR FIELD OF INTEREST, AND WOULD LIKE TO FIND EMPLOYERS WHO PRACTICE IN THAT AREA.
- I WOULD LIKE TO OBTAIN INFORMATION ABOUT A PARTICULAR EMPLOYER OR ATTORNEY.
- I WOULD LIKE TO PRACTICE LAW IN A PARTICULAR KIND OF SETTING (LOCATION, CULTURE, SIZE, COMPENSATION, DIVERSITY, PRO BONO POLICY, PARENTAL SUPPORT POLICIES, TYPE OF CLIENT (INCLUDING IN-HOUSE COUNSEL)) AND WOULD LIKE TO RESEARCH EMPLOYERS ACCORDING TO ONE OR MORE OF THESE CRITERIA.
- I WOULD LIKE TO REVIEW LEGAL JOB LISTINGS
I AM NOT SURE WHICH FIELDS OF LAW I AM MOST INTERESTED IN, AND WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT DIFFERENT PRACTICE AREAS.
One way to start figuring out what type of practice might suit you is to review an inventory of legal specialties. Here is a fairly comprehensive list, with links to related resources.
Firsthand is a subscription-based service available to Berkeley Law students that provides access to Vault Industry & Career Guidebooks through this link. Some of the guides are devoted to major legal specialties, including corporate law, litigation, labor and employment, bankruptcy and tax law. Vault’s Career Resource Center contains “day in the life” descriptions of attorneys in various jobs.
Firm Prospects is a searchable online database of attorneys with the ability to filter by a number of useful categories, including firm, location, and practice area. Access is free for Berkeley Law students if you set up your account using your Berkeley Law email address. More information, including instructional videos, can be found here, as well the link to set up an account.
Chambers Associate, a UK-based research company, has good summaries of over 20 major practice areas. Each summary provides an overview, a discussion of what lawyers in that practice typically do, and notes current issues and trends.
NALP, the National Association for Law Placement, maintains a website with extensive career planning information for law students, including information about hiring trends in the legal employment market, and links to additional resources that may be helpful to career searches. NALP also makes its employer member directory available online. The NALP Directory allows searches by practice area, geographic area, by organizations that hire 1Ls or LLMs, and also provides comparison charts. (Note that NALP members are, generally speaking, large firms which typically come to law school campuses to recruit.) NALP also publishes annual “Perspectives” on the most recent recruiting season, with analysis and breakdowns by regions and “outcomes” (i.e., offers and acceptances). Here is the most recent Perspectives (February 2023) report.
The CDO’s website maintains, and regularly updates, resources on various types of legal employment. There are pages on Public Interest Careers, Public Service (Government) Careers, Judicial Clerkships, and Academic Careers. There are also resources dedicated to small and medium firms. Here is a link to the CDO’s page on alternative legal careers.
I AM INTERESTED IN A CERTAIN TYPE OF PRACTICE, AND WOULD LIKE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT IT.
Firsthand, a subscription-based service available to Berkeley Law students, provides access to Vault Industry & Career Guidebooks. Sign up using your Berkeley Law email address to access guides devoted to major legal specialties, including corporate law, litigation, labor and employment, bankruptcy and tax law.
Firm Prospects is a searchable online database of attorneys with the ability to filter by a number of useful categories, including firm, location, and practice area. Access is free for Berkeley Law students if you set up your account using your Berkeley Law email address. More information, including instructional videos, can be found here, as well the link to set up an account.
The ABA makes many of its practice specialty groups available to students, most of them for free. Also, consider exploring local (state, county, or city) bar organizations in your target legal market, as many have practice area “sections” that may be of interest. For example, the California Lawyers Association (formerly part of the California Bar Association) offers a variety of practice area-based sections.
Heiros Gamos, an international legal web site, has an extensive list of legal specialties and sub-specialties with numerous links to related resources (articles, legal authorities, specialty legal associations).
The FindLaw “Learn About the Law” web page includes links for many practice areas, with articles about current developments.
There is a professional association for almost every legal specialty; scanning newsletters and similar resources aimed at particular practice areas will give you a sense of the issues confronted by practitioners within that specialty. The ABA and law.com web sites, among others, provide many links and search possibilities to locate specialty practice information.
Chambers Associate, a UK-based research company, has good summaries of over 20 major practice areas. Each summary provides an overview, a discussion of what lawyers in that practice typically do, and notes current issues and trends.
I HAVE A PARTICULAR FIELD OF INTEREST, AND WOULD LIKE TO FIND EMPLOYERS WHO PRACTICE IN THAT AREA.
Most databases of law firms include legal specialty as a search term. Always consider the source of the data. Some legal sites include only paid participants; others include only members of the sponsoring organization.
Firm Prospects is a searchable online database of attorneys with the ability to filter by a number of useful categories, including firm, location, and practice area. Access is free for Berkeley Law students if you set up your account using your Berkeley Law email address. More information, including instructional videos, can be found here, as well the link to set up an account.
Martindale-Hubbell is the traditional directory of all attorneys in the U.S. The online version is an extensive database of attorneys, searchable by practice area as well as other criteria. It is the best general resource for finding smaller and mid-size firms. A version of the same database, with more flexible search terms, is available through LexisNexis.
The NALP directory is a searchable database which provides copious information on legal employers. It will generate a list of firms from geographic and practice area criteria.
The Chambers USA Guide to the Legal Profession sorts attorneys and firms in various practice areas into tiers or “bands,” and includes research-based commentary about different employers, including information about practice areas.
Westlaw has a database called “Profiler” which allows you to search for attorneys by practice area as well as by geography.
Rankings and Awards
In a few major practice areas, firms are ranked for their prestige and accomplishments. The most prominent law firms appear in various rankings, usually updated annually.
Vault, accessible by setting up an account using your Berkeley Law email address here, offers rankings of firms in various specialties.
Law.com makes available many lists, rankings and surveys, including the preeminent American Lawyer rankings of the “AmLaw 100” and others. You must register with law.com to access some of the rankings, but it is free of charge. Click on “Surveys and Rankings.” Alternatively, go through the American Lawyer website, which also requires registration (free).
Chambers Associate profiles prominent firms, detailing aspects of associate life, based on telephone interviews with junior attorneys.
Chambers and Partners assesses top law firms and lawyers in the U.S. (as well as internationally) in various practice specialties.
Legal500.com, a UK-based research group, independently ranks firms in the US (as well as other global regions) in a wide range of practice areas.
Numerous local and specialized publications award various titles to firms and lawyers. If you are interested in a particular award, you can Google it; if you are researching a firm, you will surely find all such awards among its promotional materials. LawFuel.com collects press releases announcing various awards received by firms and attorneys. Superlawyers designates “outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas.” Its lists are searchable.
I WOULD LIKE TO OBTAIN INFORMATION ABOUT A PARTICULAR EMPLOYER OR ATTORNEY.
Researching specific firms will enable you to refine lists of employers you are interested in, prepare effectively for interviews, and make an informed choice if you find yourself deciding among different offers. Just about every law firm has a website, which will tell you all the essentials about numbers of attorneys, types of practice, and other basic information, as well as including any special recognition bestowed on the firm or its attorneys. Firms with summer associate programs may include information about these programs on their websites. Individual attorney profiles on a firm’s website can be helpful in learning more about a particular attorney and the firm overall.
While collecting and presenting information about the largest and most prominent law firms is a thriving business (e.g., the Vault guides; law.com; American Lawyer; Chambers and Partners, Career Center), it is more difficult to find independent information about smaller firms.
A basic search on Google or another search engine, for a firm or an attorney (include a geographic term and/or “attorney” or “lawyer”) can be revealing; consider narrowing your search with another relevant term (e.g., “patent,” “mediation,” or the name of a client or case). You can also search the news content of Law.com for stories about firms and attorneys.
Firm Prospects is a searchable online database of attorneys with the ability to filter by a number of useful categories, including firm, location, practice area, and law school, among others. Access is free for Berkeley Law students if you set up your account using your Berkeley Law email address. More information, including instructional videos, can be found here, as well the link to set up an account.
Martindale Hubbell, the traditional directory of all attorneys, has an online database (searchable for firms and for individual attorneys) which will yield basic information about an attorney, such as law school and year of admission to the bar, as well as where he or she works. The version of Martindale available through LexisNexis has more flexible search terms.
The State Bar of California has an “Attorney Search” function, which will yield an attorney’s education, business address, date of admission to the bar, and whether he/she has a disciplinary record with the Bar. Other state bar organizations may make similar information available.
Westlaw has a database called “Profiler” which allows you to see dockets, pleadings and the like on which a certain attorney’s name appears. (Note that while it can be impressive in an interview to cite a case which an attorney worked on, be alert to possible later case history which does not reflect favorably on your interviewer!)
When trying to find out about the less quantifiable aspects of a firm (e.g., its “culture”), try to use some sources which don’t come directly from the firm. Feedback from associates is one of the best unofficial sources of information on law firms. Summaries of survey responses by Berkeley Law students who worked at firms in prior summers (starting with summer 2005) can be found on the b-Line. Click on “Profile” on the main menu, then on the “Evaluations” tab, and then on the “Search” tab.
The NALP directory is a searchable database which provides copious information on legal employers, based on questionnaires which the members must submit annually.
Blogs are now a significant force in the legal landscape, and have become a popular source of information about legal employers. Above the Law tracks facts (as well as gossip, irreverent commentary and sheer speculation) about many legal employers. Firms are known to release breaking news directly to ATL, in order to “manage the message.” Its content is searchable by employer name.
Career Center, a venture of Above the Law and Lateral Link, provides research-based information about many firms, and allows side-by-side comparisons.
Chambers and Partners, an international source of information about law firms, has a companion site for prospective employees, Chambers Associate, with independently researched data and commentary by insiders.
Rankings
If you are researching a major firm, it probably appears in various rankings, which often include commentary and analysis by the compilers, both about trends and sectors of the legal market, and about individual lawyers and firms. The main rankings are:
∙ Chambers and Partners, which ranks top law firms and lawyers in the US and elsewhere in various practice specialties. Chambers does independent research, reflected in their editorials.
∙ Firsthand, a subscription-based service available to students through their Berkeley Law email address, provides access to what the “Vault rankings”. Firms are ranked for, among other things, partner prestige, diversity, and quality of life.
∙ Law.com contains many lists, rankings and surveys, including the preeminent American Lawyer’s annual “AmLaw 100” rankings and many others, including associate and summer associate surveys.
I WOULD LIKE TO PRACTICE LAW IN A PARTICULAR KIND OF SETTING (LOCATION, CULTURE, SIZE, COMPENSATION, DIVERSITY, PRO BONO POLICY TYPE OF CLIENT (INCLUDING IN-HOUSE COUNSEL)) AND WOULD LIKE TO RESEARCH EMPLOYERS ACCORDING TO ONE OR MORE OF THESE CRITERIA.
Location
Most, if not all, of the online law firm data bases (such as Firm Prospects, the NALP directory ,and Martindale) allow you to include geography as a search term. Law firms with offices in multiple locations always list them on their web sites. The Vault Guides (which must be accessed through your free account with Firsthand using your Berkeley Law email address) include several regional directories of major urban areas, and regional rankings of firms. Chambers Associate includes convenient maps showing firms’ office locations, and offers several “Regional Guides” (found under the “Where to Start” menu).
For job searches focused on a particular location, and especially if you are interested in smaller firms, bar organizations in the state or city in which you are interested in working are a good starting point. You might try the websites of law schools near where you are interested in working; they may direct you to local resources. Many areas have local resources listing local attorneys (e.g., www.atlantalawyerdirectory.com). Here are some links to some regional bar associations:
Los Angeles County Bar Association
Size
Many online law firm databases (such as Firm Prospects, the NALP directory, and Martindale.com) allow you to include number of attorneys (within a range) as a search term. If you have a certain firm or firms in mind, their website(s) will likely include information about the number of attorneys at a firm. The largest law firms appear in numerous comparisons and rankings, such as Vault (accessible here), Chambers and Partners and American Lawyer, which will include the size of the firms.
The National Law Journal compiles an annual list of the 500 largest US law firms, based on attorney headcount alone. These lists can be accessed through Lexis and Bloomberg Law.
If you know you want to work in a smaller firm, your online search methods may have to be more indirect. You might search by geography and type of practice, then research the particular firms and attorneys you come up with to find out how many attorneys are in the firm. Firm Prospects allows you to search small and medium sized firms (you can find an instructional video on conducting these searches here). Martindale.com includes smaller firms (down to solo practitioners). The version available through LexisNexis allows finer-grained searches (e.g., all firms in a region with between three and five attorneys).
Culture
Some resources, such as a firm’s own website or the NALP directory offer you information about firm culture supplied by employers themselves. However, you will also want to review such “inside” information as you can. Evaluations by Berkeley Law students of their summer experiences are available through the b-Line. Click on the “Evaluations” tab, and then on the “Search” tab.
The Vault Guides (which must be accessed through your free account with Firsthand using your Berkeley Law email address) address these questions with their “Quality of Life” rankings and annual list of the “Best Firms to Work For” and “Best Summer Associate Programs.” Chambers Associate and Career Center also offer similar information.
Of course, direct contact with someone working at a firm, or a firm similar to the one you are interested in, is highly useful for getting a sense of what it is like to work there.
Compensation
In considering salary information, be sure that you understand the firm’s overall compensation structure (e.g., are bonuses tied to the number of hours billed?), and know that employer expectations of hours worked are as important as dollars in determining real compensation. While competition among larger law firms has led to extensive disclosure of compensation data, it may be harder to get information about smaller firms from any source other than the firm itself. You will have to balance your legitimate interest in compensation against the constraints of etiquette. Published surveys can be helpful, but will always lag behind the latest developments.
The employer information supplied in the NALP Directory includes salary, bonus and benefits information. NALP also publishes various salary surveys, which include smaller as well as larger employers, and are available in the CDO library.
Vault, Chambers Associate and Career Center all discuss compensation in their firm profiles.
Stability
Upheavals in the profession in recent years have raised new concerns about the financial stability of law firms and their responses to economic challenges. While no one knows the future, and very few are privy to the inner workings of firms, there are some tools which can help you learn about the recent past and make educated decisions. If you are interested in law firm economics, the premier blog is by Bruce MacEwen (writing as “Adam Smith, Esq.”). The Wall Street Journal has a blog devoted to the legal profession, which naturally often looks at the business side of private practice. Above the Law tracks facts (as well as gossip, irreverent commentary and sheer speculation) about many legal employers and is searchable by the name of the firm. It has information about layoffs, compensation changes and deferred start dates.
Diversity
This CDO webpage includes resources for evaluating a law firm’s commitment to diversity, equity & inclusion.
Most large law firms have a spot on their website devoted to diversity. For the actual numbers/demographics, see the Minority Information section of an employer’s NALP directory entry. NALP also has a diversity section and a list of LGBT resources. NALP also houses a list of its law firm member diversity programs, events, and initiatives, such as scholarships and fellowships.
Law.com provides a Diversity Scorecard, which provides information about the number of minority attorneys in firms.
Many minority legal associations exist which are likely to have information about firms and types of practice. Listed below are some national ones; in addition, there are numerous minority lawyer associations at the state and city level in most major legal markets:
Hispanic National Bar Association
Minority Corporate Counsel Association
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
National Association of Minority & Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF)
National Bar Association (African-American legal organization)
National LGBT Bar Association
Vault (which must be accessed through your free account with Firsthand using your Berkeley Law email address) provides Diversity Program Profiles on over 150 law firms. Vault also annually ranks the “Best Law Firms for Diversity,” and lists firms according to their inclusion of women, minorities, and gays, lesbians and bisexuals. A print version of the guide, Vault’s Law Firm Diversity Programs, is available at the CDO.
Pro Bono
The CDO has put together a list of Law Firm Pro Bono Program resources here.
Firms that want to highlight recent achievements or awards in their pro bono record, often offer information about pro bono activities on their websites. Employers provide a statement of their pro bono policy as a part of their entry in the NALP Directory.
Vault (which must be accessed through your free account with Firsthand using your Berkeley Law email address) includes pro bono rankings and a Guide to Law Firm Pro Bono Programs in its employer information. A print version of Vault’s Law Firm Pro Bono Programs is also available at the CDO.
American Lawyer’s “A List” ranking includes pro bono as one measure of the success of big firms and Law.com produces its own Pro Bono Scorecard.
The Pro Bono Institute calls for an institutional commitment from large law firms to target 3-5% of total billable hours as a pro bono goal. Here is a list of the Institute’s members.
Other Employer Policies
Parental Support
Large law firms provide a variety of benefits for their attorneys, including benefits for attorneys who are parents.
When researching a specific firm on the NALP Directory, locate the firm’s profile, then select the “Compensation and Benefits” tab and expand the menu items for “Benefits,” “Compensation & Benefits Details,” and “Benefits Offered in Addition to Those Provided by FMLA” for specific information a firm’s parental support policies.
The Chambers Guide has the results of its “Work/life and Benefits Survey” compiled in a table at the front of the hard copy book detailing the number of weeks of paid maternity leave, paid paternity leave, amounts of adoption/surrogacy fees, and flexible working arrangements. On the Chambers Associate website, you can see these same results by selecting the “Law Firms,” “Law Firm Facts & Figure,” then “Work-life and Benefits.”
Yale Law Women publish annual rankings for firms in a number of categories, including advancement, compensation, culture, and diversity.
Type of Client (including employment by the client as in-house counsel)
The type of law a firm or attorney practices is, of course, related to the type of clients they serve (e.g., maritime law, education law). See the earlier section of this document relating to legal specialties.
Law firms often provide information about representative clients at their websites and in their entries at www.martindale.com.
Some of the major legal web sites have resources aimed specifically at in-house counsel. See, e.g., Corporate Counsel magazine’s website. Law.com has a sizeable area dedicated to in-house attorneys.
If you are interested in in-house counsel work, your search must leave the well-defined realm of law firm employers. The Association of Corporate Counsel is a central resource for in-house counsel, and includes career information. General (non-legal) job web sites may be useful for listings; define your search by using the term “attorney” “lawyer” or “counsel.” If you are interested in a particular company or type of company, research them directly. Only companies of significant size employ in-house counsel; therefore information about those companies should be readily available, although information about the legal department is often difficult to obtain. As the company is the sole “client” of in-house counsel, knowledge about the business and related industry is essential for anyone looking for legal work within the company.
Martindale-Hubbell’s Lawyer Locator allows a search for in-house attorneys and legal departments.
Minority Corporate Counsel Association focuses on minority attorneys in corporate legal departments.
I WOULD LIKE TO REVIEW LEGAL JOB LISTINGS
For job listings, start with the CDO’s b-Line; these listings are targeted at Berkeley Law students (and alumni), and thus are more likely than general ones to yield good results.
Below are legal job listing resources. The Career Development Office lists these sites as a service to Berkeley Law students and alumni. The Law School is not responsible for the quality of the information and services they offer. (Note that many charge user fees, some of which are substantial.) If during your search you find items outdated or changed, please let a Career Development staff member know.
Many all-purpose job sites, such as careerbuilder, indeed, and monster.com, include legal listings, and may be especially useful for in-house counsel jobs.
LinkedIn.com lists jobs in a variety of areas, including legal.
The American Bar Association has a link to legal job listings.
Westlaw has job listings for students; click on the “Careers” tab on the home page.
The American Association of Corporate Counsel website and GoInhouse lists in-house job openings.
Employers pay for listings on Ihirelegal.com (free to job-seekers who register with the site).
Updated May 2023