Snapshot of the Legal Market in New Jersey
In 2017, a New Jersey Department of Labor report indicated a slight increase in demand for lawyers ("lawyers," "attorneys," "judges," and "magistrates"). This upward trend was projected to continue in 2018. Future legal jobs in NJ are anticipated to be coming from future openings, including the need to replace lawyers who are leaving the industry, because the number of legal jobs is expected to increase, at a rate of 1.7% a year until 2024. Legal service industries are among the largest employers at the state level . State and federal government legal jobs are available in both the public education and regulatory services (legal) sectors. Top employment cities include Newark, Trenton, Camden, and Jersey City, where dozens of private and public companies employ thousands of attorneys. From Everest College, "Job opportunities for state and local government attorneys are expected to be strong as legal departments look for ways to cut costs and as an increasing number of lawyers in private practice handle governmental functions such as collecting delinquent taxes."
Largest Firms and Employers of Legal Professionals in NJ
In addition to serving the active legal community in New Jersey, PDI also keeps its finger on the pulse of the legal employment market each year. Through this process, PDI determines which law firms and corporations are the most common employers of attorneys in the state. In law firms, PDI found that the majority of attorney placements (over 60%), are with firms of under 50 attorneys. For legal staffing companies, the biggest employers are those that operate with over 250 employees. PDI exclusively uses NYLJ’s annual list of largest law firms in New Jersey. According to the NYLJ List of Largest law Firms in New Jersey, the top ten largest employer law firms in New Jersey are as follows: DeCotiis FitzPatrick & Cole, Lowenstein Sandler, Greenberg Traurig, McKirdy & Riskin, Genova Burns, Connell Foley, Gibbons, Archer & Greiner, Cliffside Park law firm Chasan Leyner & Swan, and Smith Murdock Campbell Keith & Collins. As for corporations, the top five employers are Citigroup, Johnson & Johnson, Noel Group, Samsung, and Merck. For law firms with recent expansions and openings in New Jersey, this includes: Nelson Mullins Broad & Cassell, Wilentz Goldman & Spitzer, DLA Piper, Fox Rothschild, DiFincenzo law firms, Archer & Greiner, Bullard, Smith, & Marvin, Proskauer Rose, and Morgan Lewis & Bockius. Although no new corporations or gubernatorial agencies were noted in 2018, the following organizations made major expansions in the Garden State: PDI also observed that professional staffing companies like Robert Half Legal and SC Staffing Solutions offer many competitive opportunities throughout New Jersey.
Different Types of Legal Careers in New Jersey
Types of Law Jobs Available in NJ
There are a variety of law jobs available in New Jersey. The most numerous law job is, of course, the position of lawyer. Lawyers can be found working in a variety of fields. There are transactional lawyers, litigation lawyers, tax lawyers, employment lawyers, and many other varieties of lawyers. Regardless of the field of law practiced, a lawyer is primarily responsible for practicing the law on behalf of their clients -however there are many types of lawyers dedicated to different areas of the law. Many lawyers work for large or small law firms specializing in areas of business and corporate law or possibly they work for firms specializing exclusively in litigation. A lawyer may also work in-house for corporations handling all of the company’s legal matters. In-house lawyers may handle employment law, corporate compliance, tax law, or other matters as needed for their organization. Additionally, a lawyer may work for a non-profit organization on government compliance issues or social justice initiatives. Probably the least common type of lawyer is the public defender who is employed by the state to represent indigent criminal defendants.
Other positions include paralegals and legal assistants who typically work for lawyers. Paralegals often perform a variety of legal investigative work, supporting litigation or business transactions. Depending upon the work environment, legal assistants may have more administrative and clerical responsibilities than paralegals. Additional law career opportunities include title searchers and corporate or government compliance officers.
Required Background for New Jersey Legal Jobs
The skills and qualifications typically required to qualify for law-related positions in New Jersey include: 1.) A Juris Doctor degree; 2.) Admission to the New Jersey Bar; 3.) Strong research and writing skills; 4.) Familiarity with the rules of evidence and procedure related to the practice area; 5.) Strong analytical skills, and; 6.) An ethical approach to litigation.
Many firms offer valuable training opportunities for entry-level associates, which can be gained through participation in firm-sponsored programs or shadowing of more experienced attorneys. Some litigation firms will even sponsor bar exam study courses for associates whom they hope to hire after their admission to the New Jersey Bar.
Some law firms also offer their associates opportunities to earn LLM degrees in Tax or a related field within the firm’s practice area. Associates who have experience in other aspects of law, such as family law, labor and employment law or intellectual property law, will have a competitive advantage over those who do not. Even associates with volunteer experience in particular legal issue areas may be able to get a foot in the door!
Legal Professional Salaries in NJ
Legal professionals tend to earn a modest-to-high salary for their work, and those in New Jersey are no different. The following subsection details the salaries of various legal occupations in New Jersey. All salary information in this section is derived from Bureau of Labor Statistics data for May 2020.
So, compared to other states, just how well do New Jersey legal professionals fare in the workforce? The answer, in short , is that attorneys tend to be paid a bit more in New Jersey than their counterparts across the nation, while paralegals are generally paid slightly less. The average annual salary of an attorney in New Jersey, currently $187,520, is around 8% higher than its national counterpart of $173,820.
Paralegals, on the other hand, won’t be paid quite as high as their legal counterparts, regardless of state. The nationally average paralegal job pays $56,230 per year, while that of New Jersey is $54,620.
Seeking Legal Employment in New Jersey
There are a number of ways to find law job opportunities in New Jersey. Prominent among them: Monster.com, which has more postings from law firms than any other site we know of and has been reporting increases for lawyers every single month since the 2008 recession; and Lawjobs.com, which posts law firm, government and non-profit legal job openings in New Jersey and around the country (and especially on the East Coast). Both Monster and Lawjobs.com have sections for resumes.
Stay involved. The key to success in any profession is to keep networking with colleagues and letting them know that you are back in the market and available for opportunities. Attend as many association and professional networking functions as you can. Even if you don’t know anyone there, hand out your card and be prepared to explain briefly what kind of position you are seeking. Recruiters. There are a number of agencies that specialize in legal recruitment in New Jersey and the region whose services are free of charge for candidates. They will conduct a search, including a confidential review of the current market, and present you with any opportunities they may have. Most agencies have job postings and information on the job market on their websites. Professional and trade associations. Join the bar association or your local business association, attend meetings and become involved in the professional community. Legal recruiters track where lawyers in their area are moving so that they can reach out to find common areas of interest for a potential match. Headhunters. If you are an experienced candidate, you may use a recruiter to find opportunities. There are many firms that specialize exclusively in attorney placement. A recruiter can be beneficial, especially during the initial phases of a search. Most large law firms in New Jersey require all interviews of prospective candidates to go through a legal recruiter.
Building Professional Networks
How do you meet people that you can build your name on? Many of the best legal opportunities come through word of mouth, referrals and professional connections. Location is a key factor when determining the best time to network (or at least relatively). Networking in New York or Washington DC may prove to be more productive that trying to meet someone in Chicago or Baltimore. Here is a list of sites and organizations that might be useful for legal networking in New Jersey:
New Jersey State Bar Association
Monmouth County Bar Association and Foundation
Morris County Bar Association
Hunterdon County Bar Association
Bergen County Bar Association
Somerset County Bar Association
Union County Bar Association
Atlantic County Bar Association
Professional Associations
National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL)
Black Women Lawyers Network (BWLN)
National Bar Association (NBA)
Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA)
Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MC , CA)
National LBGT Bar Association
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA)
American Constitution Society (ACS)
International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP)
American Association of Nurse Attorneys (TAANA)
Association of Corporate Counsel New Jersey Chapter
Advanced Legal Support Staff (ALSP)
AALSDutchess Bar Association – Professional Development Committee