The Career Development staff is here to help you meet your professional goals. We provide counseling, coaching in resume-writing and interviewing, networking connections, and access to regional and national career opportunities through alumni contacts, career fairs, and online strategies.
Job boards are good places to begin a search. Use Chase Connect for Students to set up your profile and search and apply for jobs and internships.
The Career Development Office also utilizes the Intercollegiate Job Bank (you will need a username and password from the Career Development Office).
Reciprocity allows Chase students and alumni to obtain access to the career services offices of many other ABA-accredited law schools across the country. Reciprocity requests must be made through the Career Development Office, please contact Lisa Moore at moorel1@nku.edu or 859-572-5354 so we can request access for you.
The on-campus interview program (OCI) arranges interviews for students with participating law firms, government agencies, and corporations. It is an efficient way to make first impressions with multiple employers and to develop a comfortable approach to interviews.
Judicial clerkships with a state or federal trial or appellate judge, offers experience in legal research and writing that can be career enhancing. Most federal judges use the OSCAR system for hiring clerks during early fall of a final year of law school for positions that begin the summer or fall after graduation.
Practicing in a small city or rural area can be a direct path to career independence and community leadership. Chase offers guidance on this opportunity through the Rural Practice Initiative. The Career Development Office moorel1@nku.edu has the details.
Becoming a lawyer can open a multitude of career opportunities, either in the traditional practice of law or fields in which having a law degree can be an advantage. These are some of the places a law degree can take you, and are typical of Chase graduates’ career paths:
Private practice includes everything from a one-lawyer solo practice to large firms with more than 90 lawyers. In between are small firms of two to 25 lawyers and mid-size firms of up to 90 lawyers. Some small firms are “boutique” practices that concentrate in a very specialized area of law, while others have broader practices in some of the same areas of law as mid-size and large firms. Large firms often have specialty practice sections that focus on particular areas of law. Most large firms and some mid-size firms hire summer associates, generally for the summer before a final year of law school, with the anticipation of considering them for employment following graduation. Small firms typically hire as needs arise.
Corporate and business careers include in-house counsel with a company, which can be the staff lawyer in a small company or part of a large legal department in a large corporation. Some enterprises seek to hire lawyers for positions such as trust officers in banks, adjusters or brokers with insurance companies, and editors at law-related publications.
Government careers include the practice of law and regulatory or administrative oversight. Among the options are local government law departments, prosecutors’ offices, state and federal agencies, attorneys general offices, and public defenders’ offices.
Military careers are generally in the Judge Advocate General Corps in each branch of the military. The military system of law essentially mirrors the civilian, with lawyers serving in areas such as prosecution and defense in discipline and criminal cases, civil and international law, and regulatory and administrative law.
Judicial clerkships in state and federal courts offer a complexity of work that can be a foundation for career advancement. Clerks are essentially assistants to judges, providing research, drafting, and editing support.
Public interest careers include legal aid programs for people unable to afford a lawyer or in litigation for advocacy groups in any number of fields, including consumer, religion, environment, and government accountability.
Academic careers can be in law school or undergraduate instruction or administration.
Juris Doctor-advantage careers do not require a license to practice law, but are ones in which a law degree can provide an advantage in being hired, fulfilling job duties, and advancing. Among them are bank officer, editor, nonprofit director, legislation analyst, insurance administrator, and investment banker.