We've been writing about career alternatives for lawyers. With all the layoff news coming out of law firms these days, it's good to remember that there are things you can do with a law degree other than working for a large law firm. Today, we're touching on fellowship options for attorneys.

Of course, there are judicial clerkships, the ultimate "de-facto" fellowships for attorneys, and legal academia fellowships (aspiring law professors should check out TaxProf Blog's compilation). But we are focusing on opportunities for mid-career attorneys, who may want to get away from Biglaw for a year or two, but ultimately want to keep on practicing.

We're listing a few and encourage you to mention others in the comments. If you're looking for interesting experiences, and don't mind a dip in your salary, here are a few fellowships to consider:

More on each of these fellowships, and advice for those thinking about fellowships, after the jump.

Earlier this year, we presented a series of threads on career alternatives for attorneys. As it turns out, there are things you can do with a law degree other than working for a large law firm -- and now that large law firms are laying off lawyers and even dissolving, now is a good time to revisit the topic.

One career alternative we didn't include in the first go-round was living by the pen -- probably 'cuz it's pretty hard to pull off. As one commenter quipped about another daunting alternative (entrepreneurship), "maybe I should try out for the Yankees while I'm at it."

Not everyone can be John Grisham or Scott Turow. Being a writer is not so much an alternative to being an attorney as it is something you can do on the side.

Unless your spouse is willing to let you quit your job and pursue the literary dream. Malcolm Gladwell of the New Yorker wrote a piece recently about creativity, and how it is not the sole provenance of the young. The piece revolves around an attorney who quit his job at Akin Gump to become a full-time writer and spent 18 years at it, eventually writing a book of short stories that won the Hemingway Foundation/PEN award. All the while, his wife, a Thompson & Knight partner, acted as his literary patron (i.e., the family breadwinner).

If you have a patron, or if you have lots of creativity, or if you just love spinning tales, perhaps you should think about trying your hand at the writing craft.

Last night, we attended a panel discussion at the New York City Bar Association: Non-Fiction: True Crime Stories & the Truth about Being a Lawyer-Writer. Speaking were JD-holders Thomas Adcock of the New York Law Journal, former Brooklyn prosecutor Dennis Hawkins, and legal PR maven Rosemarie Yu. Thomas Adcock has written seven books, including Dark Maze, which received an Edgar award. Hawkins and Yu have recently had their work published in the non-fiction anthology Brooklyn Noir 3.

All three are patron-less, balancing work with writing. Check out their tips for other aspiring writers, from getting started to getting published, after the jump.

Associates often complain that managing partners are elevated because they are excellent lawyers, whether or not they know anything about running a business.

But what happens when lawyers become CEOs of Fortune 500 businesses? According to Corporate Counsel, it's more poop on a different stick:

Two lawyer-CEOs who were hired amid fanfare a few years ago saw their tenures end during the past year -- each with a distinct thud. Last November, Charles Prince III, Citigroup Inc.'s chairman and CEO (and, earlier, its GC), resigned under pressure after four years at the helm. In January, Michael Cherkasky, the CEO of Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. (and a former prosecutor), ended his three-year reign. Both were hired to tackle their companies' ethical crises, and their legal expertise was cited as one of their virtues. They were praised for their handling of the legal quagmires, then hounded for months by investors demanding profits. So much for lawyers in red capes.

That sounds like classic American corporate culture. Making "money" for "shareholders" trumps playing it safe and covering your backside.

In fairness, it seems odd to take lawyers schooled in the ancient art of risk-aversion and then ask them to play corporate craps with the best CEOs.

Lawyers' first, best use after the jump.

Having just discussed Janet Jackson (or her breasts), we're going to remain on the subject of music. This installment in our continuing series of open threads on career alternatives for attorneys -- i.e., "things you can do with a law degree other than Biglaw (or contract attorney work)" -- is inspired by lawyer turned rapper Mekka Don.

There are many attorneys out there with musical side projects. When do you decide to take the leap and dive into your music career full-time? According to Mekka Don, the answer is "after one year at Weil." He wrote to us in March:

My name is Emeka Onyejekwe (aka Mekka Don) and in the spring I left my job at a top ten law firm in order to help save Hip Hop. I graduated from NYU in 2006 and worked at the firm for a little less than a year. Many people (probably including you, lol) think I'm crazy, but I believe it was a calling from God. I've begun to memorialize what I am doing through a reality show.

He may be too late. According to Nas, hip hop is dead! But good luck with that.

ABA Journal's July issue has a profile piece on the "legal hustler." Taking the struggling artist career route sounds challenging. To make ends meet, Onyejekwe is "modeling, event planning and sports marketing along with running a small legal practice with his sister."

Does a legal background help much in this career? Once you make it big, those contracts classes may come in handy. It also looks to be useful in the comments on the ABA piece. Someone questioned Mekka Don's use of "Law & Order" for the title of his mixtape, and he responds by citing the "fair use" doctrine.

More on Mekka Don, after the jump.

Since last week's non-legal Job of the Week in New York was such a big hit, we've decided to give you West Coast folks an opportunity to transition out of the law as well. And since some people reading ATL still want to keep practicing law, we've provided another top in-house spot for those of you on the East Coast.

Here are the Jobs of the Week, brought to you by Lateral Link. First the legal one:

Position: Senior Corporate Counsel
Location: Boston, MA
Description: This company, a rapidly growing leader in wind production, is seeking a senior corporate attorney with 7-8 years corporate and securities experience at a large law firm. Public company experience and Sarb-Ox a plus. The attorney must be comfortable working in a relatively unstructured environment and will be expected to handle substantial day-to-day responsibility while reporting to the General Counsel on larger issues. This position has tremendous potential financial upside. For more information please see Position #9409.

And now the non-legal one:

Position: Manager of Attorney Recruiting & Development
Location: San Diego, CA
Description: A premier global law firm, with more than 2,000 attorneys in 26 offices worldwide, seeks a bright, articulate, self-starting professional for its San Diego office. The successful candidate will manage all aspects of lateral attorney hiring, the fall and summer recruiting programs, and new attorney orientation, integration and development. The ideal candidate will have a JD, MBA or other relevant advanced degree and a minimum of 5 years of experience in a large law firm or professional services environment. No previous recruiting experience is required. For more information please see Position #9425.

Lateral Link is a free professional member network for attorneys. Benefits include a $10,000 guaranteed signing bonus for most positions, free professional career consulting and access to Vault guides, and personal job search assistance. Membership in Lateral Link is free and you can apply at www.laterallink.com.

The latest post in our occasional series on career alternatives for attorneys -- i.e., things you can do with a law degree that don't involve working for a law firm as an associate or contract attorney -- is inspired by a profile in yesterday's Washington Post. The subject: Larry Feldman, "the Subway King of the Mid-Atlantic," who just opened his 1,019th sandwich shop in the region.

The economy may be grim, but Feldman's Subway franchises are doing swimmingly:

Business, says the 58-year-old, is excellent.

"In this economy, people can always withhold from the white-tablecloth restaurant, from the more expensive meal, and eat at Subway for $5," said Feldman, relaxing in a leather chair at one of his busiest stores, at the corner of L Street and Connecticut Avenue NW in downtown Washington. "It's an ideal time for our products. Average unit volume is up about 20 percent."

You're probably not going to Subway as a summer associate (Cosi, maybe). But most people don't have the luxury of being summer associates. So these are good times for Subway shop owners.

Here are some of the rewards for being a successful businessperson:

Feldman is the classic entrepreneur, a lawyer who found his niche in fast food. He came from Brooklyn and became a multimillionaire, gives generously to Democratic politicians and has a weakness for Bentleys. He has a primary home in Boca Raton, Fla., and spends summers at his residence in Vail, Colo. Feldman visits Washington for about a week every month to oversee his burgeoning empire.

Read more about this lawyer-turned-entrepreneur, after the jump.

Here in Washington, DC, there's a non-governmental organization on every street corner. So it should come as no surprise that our latest Career Alternatives post focuses on working for an NGO.

Several tipsters suggested the NGO career path as an appealing alternative to BIglaw life. Here's what one had to say:

Many staff, particularly executive directors, of international development/human rights NGOs are attorneys. In many instances, having a law degree now seems to be a prerequisite for success in this field.

While other degrees may lend themselves more obviously to certain types of NGO work -- e.g., master's degrees in international relations or public policy -- a law degree also confers a significant amount of credibility, according to a second source:

If you're looking for alternatives to practicing law, working with an NGO is a good alternative for lawyers (or bar failers who want to market themselves as having decided not to practice). It helps if you have previous experience in the field you want to work in, but a JD generally can be marketed as giving you experience in legal or policy analysis.

Interested in learning more? Additional detail, after the jump.

Last week we received an email from our law school alumni office with the subject heading "Yale Law School Job Opportunities for Alumni." It directed our attention to this web page, which currently lists four job openings: Deans' Fellow; Director of Recruitment; Director of Public Interest Programs; and Executive Director, Law and Media Program. Some of these posts sound quite interesting, and all list a law degree as a preferred or required credential.

Inspired by this email, we bring you our latest post about a career alternative for attorneys -- a job open to JDs who can't get, or don't want, to work as a law firm associate or contract attorney (the two most obvious options for law school graduates). Today's topic: working as a law school administrator.

A tipster who used to work in the financial aid office of a top law school writes:

[A] good topic for your career alternatives series would be careers in Law School Administration. This does not cover tenure-track academia, which is typically out of reach for 99% of law graduates, as you know.

Yes, that's right. If you want to be THE dean of a law school, you should first land a tenure-track job as a law professor (which is no easy feat). But landing a position as an assistant or associate dean with a specific portfolio may be more attainable. Our tipster continues:

With about 200 accredited law schools, there is not only a huge need for gullible students to fill all of those seats, but also administrators to care for them and listen to their complaints. Schools are frequently expanding their administrator ranks to deal with the younger generation of law students who have high expectations and need a great deal of hand holding about everything from stress to career options to how to deal with that C+ in Contracts. Recently it seems schools are giving more preference for a JD for many positions, and amazingly enough there are lots of lawyers eager to jump back into the school they complained about so much for 3 years.

In addition, the field of law school administration attracts a high number of hotties. See our Law School Dean Hotties contest: male contestants here, female contestants here, winners here.

For those of you interested in the field of law school administration, more information -- an overview of different subject areas, salary data, etc. -- appears after the jump.

We didn't forget to do a post today about a career alternative for attorneys -- a job open to JDs who can't get or don't want to work as a law firm associate or contract attorney. Our latest featured gig: conflicts analyst.

What's a conflicts analyst? A tipster explains:

I worked in the Conflicts department at a large firm before and during law school. They hire people with JDs to review and resolve conflicts resulting from both general daily intake (partner in NYC wants to sue X and has no idea that partner in SF represents X) and from mergers (firm sued Y in 1999, but prospective new acquisition represents Y in all its patent work - is this a conflict? do we need waivers?).

What are the pluses and minuses of conflicts analyst work?

The hours are usually decent, depending on the firm and whether or not there are a lot of mergers going on. It depends on the firm, you may be treated with respect by the practicing attorneys, or you may be treated like annoying red tape between them and a big bonus.

If this potential path interests you, read more after the jump.

In our continuing series of open threads on career alternatives for attorneys -- i.e., "things you can do with a law degree other than Biglaw (or contract attorney work)" -- we've covered a number of interesting areas. Thus far we've written about lawyers at accounting firms, law librarians, and law firm recruiting coordinators / directors.

Today we peer at a profession that's more removed from the legal realm, but where legal training is still helpful and valued: public relations (at a PR agency; PR professionals who work for law firms will be covered later). A tipster tells us:

While I have nothing quite as clever as Manager of Legal Sea Foods, I can propose a career that has unlimited earning potential, bonuses and still allows a JD the opportunity to be involved in interesting and high-profile issues: public relations. Several of the top agencies today, including those specializing in issues management or crisis communications, have positions available for lawyers (or recovering lawyers).

At my last agency, I worked with a total of seven, most of whom attended Top 15 law schools. Most of our clients were involved in product recalls, discrimination lawsuits, predatory lending practices, patent disputes, etc. The work was highly confidential and occasionally involved a good courtroom battle, aside with the typical battle with the NYT. Since we dealt with the general counsel's office most of the time, it was a tremendous asset to have someone who understood their "language."

Sounds like fun. And considering that both legal and PR types are talented talkers, skilled at the art of spin, public relations seems like a good fit for lawyers (or aspiring ex-lawyers).

Okay, we're sold on the substance of the work. What about the pay?

Find out, after the jump.

We resume our series of open threads on career alternatives for attorneys. If you have a law degree, but can't get into / aren't interested in Biglaw or contract attorney work, what are some other good options?

One of you snarkily suggested manager at Legal Sea Foods (which, by the way, has excellent clam chowder). But in an effort to cabin the universe of possibilities, we're going to focus on fields where a law degree adds significant value or is at least somewhat relevant.

Thus far we've discussed working as a law librarian or for a major accounting firm, two fields popular with holders of J.D. degrees. If you have a suggested alternative career path, please email us (subject line: "Career Alternatives"), and include some basic info about the field that you're nominating (e.g., how to get into it, pluses and minuses, salary data, etc.).

Today we're going to focus on the people who bring you aboard in Biglaw: law firm recruiting coordinators (or, to use the NALP terminology, "legal recruitment and attorney management professionals"). They're the law firm employees who work with law schools to set up the fall interviewing process, coordinate on-campus and callback interviews, run summer associate programs (read: plan awesomely fun events for aspiring pro wrestlers), and generally oversee the process of hiring and recruiting qualified attorneys at major law firms.

(Note: Also falling under the broad terms "legal recruiter" or "recruiting professional" are people who work for legal search firms / headhunters -- e.g., Kinney, Lateral Link, Mestel. We'll discuss them in a future post.)

If you're curious about opportunities in law firm recruiting departments, read more, after the jump.

As we announced yesterday, we're doing a series of open threads on career alternatives for attorneys. If you have a law degree, but can't get into / aren't interested in Biglaw or contract attorney work, what are some other good options?

We kicked off the series with a post about job opportunities with accounting firms. If you have a suggested career path, please email us (subject line: "Career Alternatives"), and include some basic info about the field that you're nominating (e.g., how to get into it, pluses and minuses, salary data, etc.).

Back to law librarians. Longtime ATL readers know that they're hot, as reflected in our law librarian hotties contest (male nominees here, female nominees here, and winners here). And it sounds like their profession is, too. From an enthusiastic law librarian, who works for a university:

Don't forget law librarianship. Great hours, low stress, academic lifestyle, and the chance to abuse law students at will. Nothing could be finer.

Seriously, this a great profession. The work is interesting, law students and professors are intelligent and fun to work with, the stress level is low, the pace is comfortable, and I feel like I'm doing positive things for people. I have fun at work every day, and get many of the benefits of the law school academic lifestyle in spite of only having been in the middle of my class at [a top 30 law school]. There are plenty of jobs, many in very nice places to live. I highly recommend it.

Sounds promising -- especially the part about abusing law students. Read more, after the jump.

Just how versatile is a law degree? To quote one applicant for our new writer position: "If I had a nickel for every time someone told me 'you can do a lot with a law degree,' I'd have enough to pay for about a semester of law school." [FN1]

As just discussed, many law school graduates are up to their ears in educational debt, but can't land -- or don't want -- Biglaw gigs. If they aren't interested in working as contract attorneys, what other options are available to them?

To help answer this question, we'll be doing a series of open threads on career alternatives for attorneys. If you have a suggestion for one, please email us (subject line: "Career Alternatives"). Please include some information about the alternative career path you're nominating -- e.g., how to get into the field, pros and cons, how much it pays, etc. -- so if we use your suggestion, we have some material to kick off the conversation.

Today's career alternative: working for an accounting firm. The Big Four accounting firms hire a fair number of J.D. holders. One popular specialty for lawyers at such firms is tax, where a legal education, although not essential, comes in handy.

If you're curious about this possible career path, read more, after the jump.