Career Opportunities in the Law and Justice Sector

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The Law and Justice sector demands a lot out of its applicants. Some of it is demanding work with often high stakes – people’s livelihoods or future opportunities can be on the table – and it requires a lot of focus to perform.

Competition in the sector can be fierce, but luckily there are plenty of different opportunities and career paths for just about anyone from admin to legwork. Because it’s such a wide-ranging place, we’ve collected a few leading paths that we can help with the qualifications for you.

Remember: what we’re offering here is a small sampling of the industry, and you can always check who’s currently hiring or our own course listings for more information.

Paralegals

Paralegals are workers within a law office who assist in legal documentation. While they can’t offer legal services directly to the public, they independently do many of the duties you’d expect from lawyers, such as researching case notes, conducting interviews, and administrative tasking.

A lot of prospective lawyers start off as Paralegals, as the only real functional difference (in many cases) is that they can’t independently represent a client or give official legal advice.

Legal secretaries

A legal secretary is a specialised secretarial position for the law industry who performs a lot of filing motions, appeals, transcription, and various general office duties. They generally work at a law firm or for a practitioner and help run the day-to-day lifeblood of the office.

Mediator

Mediation is often the fastest way to settle a legal matter. Rather than go through a lengthy, drawn-out and mutually expensive court case, people often first go to a mediator (or another alternative dispute resolution worker) to settle the matter.

Taking a course in Mediation means learning to help people who are at war with each other find common ground and find compromises that benefit both of them. A very rewarding career path for anyone who considers themselves good at conflict resolution.

Prison Officer

To be a Prison Officer, you’ll need a certain level of physical fitness, as well as an attention to detail and an ability to interact with people — you’ll be dealing directly with prisoners and the public, filing reports, and keeping a general eye on proceedings.

In return, you’ll be able to make a difference from within the system, helping prisoners reform and making a difference in correctional facilities.

Political Scientist

The study of Political Science opens up a slew of opportunities as a lobbyist or campaign workers. Many Pol Sci students go for careers in the public sector, especially in the customs and immigration department or as government analysts.

Combined with a corresponding Law degree, they’re qualified to start seeking Judge or District Attorney level positions. They might also combine with a journalism degree and work within a newspaper to cover political pieces.

Private Investigator

Everybody knows the Private Eye, but beyond the Hollywood Glamour it’s a rewarding profession that needn’t leave you out in the cold like Marlowe.

Many law firms employ private investigators to gather intelligence and evidence. Psychologists, corruption investigators (who often can’t use the regular chain), debt collectors, journalists, and a whole range of industries use PI’s so that they can do their own jobs more informed and up-to-date.  On top of that, if you choose, you’ll be taking contracts from the public in order to do sleuthing of your own.

Criminal Psychologist

Criminal Psychologists are tasked with understanding the human mind. They have to be able to analyse behaviour and profile behaviour to patterns in order to further an investigation or exonerate an innocent, and to provide expert opinions upon a case-by-case basis.

After doing a degree in Criminal Psychology, you could find work in a wide area of places. You may end up as a probationary officer, or working as a counsellor. You might instead find yourself as a court analyst, or helping a private organisation profile potential wrongdoers, for example, in a bank to help curb thievery.

Usher

Court Ushers conduct face-to-face proceedings in a courtroom environment, working to move along the process and generally acting as the unseen wheel of the room. They’re responsible for ordering cases and setting up for them, for getting the necessary people together and in the stands, and to help maintain order in an unruly room. 

Forensics

Studying forensics with us gets you up to date with the modern analytical techniques and procedures available to forensic science. You’ll be working under lab conditions to analyse various data left on the scene of crimes to help law enforcement catch the crook.

From here, you can further specialise as a Toxicologist, working with hazardous substances; in Biomed, working with organics; and with chemistry for specific criminal acts (usually things like Arson).

To find out more about the different career opportunities available in the Law and Justice sector, check out the courses available with ICI Education today.

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Gladys Mae

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Gladys Mae serves as the General Manager and Head of Student Services at the International Career Institute. Gladys holds a degree in Mass Communication - Broadcast Media from the University of San Jose-Recoletos. She joined ICI in 2010 and has over the past 12 years been instrumental in providing leadership and guidance to staff and students alike. Prior to joining ICI Gladys led a multifaceted career with key roles in the banking and business process outsourcing industries.