The government is a huge source of employment for new lawyers

Buried under a stack of casebooks, last week's laundry, and a box of stale pizza is an excellent career-building tool: your telephone directory.

Take a look at the government pages. See all of those state and local departments, commissions, and agencies? They need lawyers. Whether or not you want to be a civil servant, the operations of state and local governments offer countless opportunities. No matter what niche of substantive law you've latched onto, there's a governmental entity somewhere that's interested in you.

"State and local governments touch everybody in their daily lives," says Patrick Arey, chair of the ABA Section of State and Local Government Law. The water that spurts from your shower, the road that carries you to work, the traffic that plagues you on the way home-all are tied to the operations of state and local government, says Arey, whose Baltimore firm assists local governments with real estate development and finance matters.

To be sure, there are valuable opportunities with state attorneys general, city legal departments, county prosecutors, and public defenders. These are some of the venues that first pop into mind when new grads are job hunting for government jobs at the state and local levels. Yet that's hardly the whole playing field, especially when it comes to civil practice.

"Look beyond the obvious," advises Richard Krakowski, chair of the governmental liability committee of the ABA Tort and Insurance Practice Section. By way of example, he notes that Chicago's Department of Health has its own legal staff. Krakowski's own specialty is labor law-he's an administrative hearing officer for labor relations in Cook County, Ill.

There's not as wide a gulf as one might think between the public and private spheres, according to Krakowski. The legal teams that serve various state and local government entities are like diverse law firms, he says.

If you want the private sphere to be your home, you'll find that significant numbers of government entities-especially smaller-scale municipalities-ship out some of their legal work to firms on the outside. Sholem Friedman, past chair of the Section of State and Local Government Law, notes that two-thirds of the section's membership consists of lawyers in the private sector. Given these broad horizons, choosing a career path can be tough. Those who practice in the private realm point to substantive areas that are good bets given the upbeat economy: land use and environmental law. This is especially true in areas favored by the influx of new workers.

"Land use is probably the area of the law that has the greatest demand for lawyers in the governmental sphere," Friedman says. And with houses comes the need for commercial development, says Daniel Curtin Jr., chair-elect of the Section of State and Local Government Law. A partner with California powerhouse McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen, Curtin's practice focuses on land use and real estate development. The firm is always looking for bright, energetic candidates, he says, pointing out that new lawyers with a master's degree in planning or environmental studies are particularly attractive.

"I think land use is one of the most exciting [fields] because it's continually changing," Curtin says. He notes that lawyers in the field must tackle questions concerning affordable housing, availability of infrastructure, financing for development, and environmental matters.

Even if you're a telecommunications guru or an intellectual property wonk, there's a government angle to your work. For instance, Friedman points to the current debate over the taxability of Internet commerce and the thorny legal issues that arise when negotiating passage of fiber optic cables through public facilities.

Increasing privatization of governmental services, like sanitation and transportation, create their own legal tangles, says Friedman, chief of the Real Estate and Environmental Law Division of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

So what should you study before taking the government plunge? "Everything," Arey says. Although that's a tall order, practitioners on both sides of the government fence say a well-rounded education is key. Krakowski advises students to be "steeped in constitutional law." You should have a healthy dose of course work in employment law, negotiating skills, and special statutes like the Americans with Disabilities Act. Training in trial practice techniques is a plus, too, he says.

Some stress that new lawyers practicing in this area will get lots of heavy-duty experience early in their careers. Many government offices can't afford massive numbers of lawyers, so the newer staff members must get up to speed quickly and accept significant responsibility.

The public sector pay may not match what you'll make in a private firm, but the experience is invaluable, according to Krakowski. A new lawyer in a government office could wind up in court-even as second chair on a big case-within six or so months of coming on board, he notes. You won't get that kind of experience during your first five years in a big firm, he adds.

Curtin says new lawyers should consider the public sector, even if they wish to end up in private practice eventually. "I see [opportunities] in city government starting as a deputy city attorney or deputy county counsel," he says. "That's how I started my career after working in the [state] legislature for a couple of years."

For now, your education continues inside and outside of the classroom, summers included. Curtin advises students to check out law firms that have carved out a governmental practice niche. In California, he says, some firms do nothing but public agency law.

You may find a paying job with a private firm that either represents state and local government units directly or deals with them often in practice. If you can afford to do so, you might sign on for an unpaid internship with a branch of government whose operations segue to your chosen niche in the law.

As Friedman says: "Governments deal with everything ... from A to Z, from antitrust to zoning."

Lisa Stansky is a lawyer and freelance writer in New Orleans.

Resources on Government Law