| Important Core Job Duties (in order of importance) For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 100 (%) | Description: Monitor proceedings to ensure that all applicable rules and procedures are followed. |
| Importance: 100 (%) | Description: Read documents on pleadings and motions to ascertain facts and issues. |
| Importance: 100 (%) | Description: Rule on admissibility of evidence and methods of conducting testimony. |
| Importance: 100 (%) | Description: Advise attorneys, juries, litigants, and court personnel regarding conduct, issues, and proceedings. |
| Importance: 100 (%) | Description: Preside over hearings and listen to allegations made by plaintiffs to determine whether the evidence supports the charges. |
| Importance: 98 (%) | Description: Issue arrest warrants. |
| Importance: 97 (%) | Description: Write decisions on cases. |
| Importance: 96 (%) | Description: Research legal issues and write opinions on the issues. |
| Importance: 96 (%) | Description: Interpret and enforce rules of procedure or establish new rules in situations where there are no procedures already established by law. |
| Importance: 94 (%) | Description: Impose restrictions upon parties in civil cases until trials can be held. |
| Importance: 88 (%) | Description: Settle disputes between opposing attorneys. |
| Importance: 84 (%) | Description: Instruct juries on applicable laws, direct juries to deduce the facts from the evidence presented, and hear their verdicts. |
| Importance: 76 (%) | Description: Sentence defendants in criminal cases, on conviction by jury, according to applicable government statutes. |
| Importance: 76 (%) | Description: Award compensation for damages to litigants in civil cases in relation to findings by juries or by the court. |
| Importance: 72 (%) | Description: Supervise other judges, court officers, and the court's administrative staff. |
Legal Careers Careers and Jobs
Select, Find and Prepare for Legal Careers Jobs Matched Across 7 Careers - all on one page
Legal careers range from attorneys who represent clients to paralegals, court staff, and compliance workers who support legal processes. For people interested in law, advocacy, research, regulation, or court-related work. Use the tools below to compare related job titles, education requirements, growth, and career resources.
Here is a short Helper Video 
.
This page will take you through 4 steps to (1) Select from Legal Careers careers/jobs, (2) Find Legal Careers job listings, (3) Prepare for matching Legal Careers careers, and (4) Provide Legal Careers career-specific resources.
Step 1: Select a Career/Job: This page starts with 4 ways for you to identify and select from listings of Legal Careers careers/jobs:
A) Fastest Growing Legal Careers Careers - 2023 to 2033 (est.)
These listings are based on job growth estimates and helps you to identify the fastest growing and evolving Legal Careers careers. Some careers may not initially seem related to Legal Careers, so relevant Legal Careers jobs are listed alongside each listing. This can also help us to identify which careers (bottom of the listing) may have negative growth - perhaps due to automation or planned obsolescence.
B) Median Annual Salary U.S. Legal Careers Careers
These listings are sorted (descending) by median annual salary in the U.S. This may help us to identify our ideal career. We may not qualify at this time for the desired career, but this listing and the results provided can help us to explore job details, as well as learn how to appropriately prepare for the career.
C) Legal Careers Career Ladders (Educational Requirements)
These listings will help us to identify Legal Careers careers sorted by educational requirements (with the most difficult to obtain listed first). This may help us to identify career ladders (as we scroll down the list), and help us to get jobs that we qualify for now.
D) Select From a Listing of 278 Legal Careers Job Titles.
The list may be quite long. There are two ways you might like to use this list:
1) Filter - As you enter a word, you will filter (limit) the list of job titles
2) Browse the list (Don't Filter) - You can simply explore the list of job titles. There may be many that you might never have considered to be of interest.
Once you have identified a job title of interest, simply click on it.
Step 2: Find a Job: After you have selected a career/job title above, you will see a form asking for your location. You will see several radio selection choices to utilize the job search site of your choice.
Step 3: Prepare For a Career: In this section you will gain access to detailed information to help you prepare for the chosen career. Information may include (not every career choice includes all of the elements below - updates occur quarterly):
Core Duties: Lists the primary worker-related tasks performed in this occupation
Supplemental Duties: Lists additional tasks that are performed but are secondary to the core duties
Work Activities: Summarizes the broad types of behaviors and actions related to this career
Specific Work Activities: Provides more granular day-to-day activities tied to the work performed
Essential Skills: Provides foundational skills that are core to performing this specific occupation
Transferable Skills: Provides career-portable skills that can be applied across multiple occupations and industries
Day-in-the-Life Summaries: Provides a snapshot of the key activities performed on a typical workday in this career
Knowledge Required: Provides the requirements regarding the acquisition of facts and principles
Software Skills: Lists software tools commonly used in this occupation, organized by category and priority
Preparation Required: Provides a summary of the required experience and education
Education Required: Detailed breakdown of the education required
Training and Experience Required: Detailed breakdown of the training and work experience required
Certifications: Provides appropriate government and private-sector certifications and/or credentials that may be required
Professional Associations: Provides professional associations that are related to the career selected
Job Listings: Provides links to active current job listings for the selected career, along with multiple similar job titles to explore. All information appears on this page without navigating away.
Related Careers to Consider: Lists up to 20 careers that might be of interest to you (related to your initial choice - what they do, what they know, and what they're called), ranked by best fit.
** If you clicked on a link from section D (as described in Step 1 above), you will see one or more links to an occupation that is usually a bit more general than your initial job title selection - the link(s) is directly related to the specific job you identified through your prior selections.
*NOTE: It is possible that there may not be a career path identified for the specific job you selected in Step 1. If this is the case, scroll up the page and click on a different career/job.
Step 4: Career-Specific Resources (detailed and constantly updated): Continue to scroll down the page and you will find tabs that provide detailed (updated) links specific to the career you selected. This information includes:
Videos: Provides a listing of video links related to this career. A great way to get a quick overview of the occupation.
Resumes: Sources for resume materials and techniques. This can help to get you started.
Job Description: Sources that provide job descriptions, which are vital to resume and interview preparation.
Interviews: Provides links that can help you to prepare for and successfully complete the job interview. Can also assist with coffee chats.
Step by Step: Provides links to resources that can help to organize the career search process.
LinkedIn: One of the best professional social media sites that provides links, opportunities, and networking specifically for careers and career development.
Step 1 of 4: Select a Career/Job
7 Legal Careers careers are listed below (sorted by Percentage Change in Total Job Openings - 2023 to 2033 est.). Legal Careers-related jobs specific to each career are also provided. This shows which careers are emerging and growing the fastest. Please Scroll and Select below:
| Occupations | U.S. Job Openings 2023-2033 (% change) | Legal Careers-Related Jobs |
7 Legal Careers careers are listed below (sorted by U.S. National Median Salary). Legal Careers-related jobs specific to each occupation are also provided. Please Scroll and Select below::
| Occupations | National Median Salary | Legal Careers-Related Jobs |
7 Legal Careers careers are listed (sorted by Education/Preparation Requirements - descending) to provide career ladders. Legal Careers-related jobs specific to each career are also provided.
|
Education/Preparation Categories: 5 = Usually requires graduate school (e.g., Master's degree, Ph.D., M.D., or J.D.) 4 = Usually requires a four-year Bachelor's degree 3 = Usually requires vocational training, related on-the-job experience, or Associate's degree 2 = Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, but not always Please Scroll and Select below: |
||
| Occupations | Education/Preparation | Legal Careers-Related Jobs |
Scroll through the picklist (below). There are 278 specific Legal Careers job titles listed. Select those that may be of interest - you will get active job listing links, along with detailed resources to help you prepare for a career related to that job.
You can use this form two ways:
Filter - As you enter a keyword, you will filter (limit) the list of job titles below
Browse the list (Don't Filter) - You can simply explore the list of job titles. There may be many that you might never have considered to be of interest.
OR - leave blank and scroll through the choices:
Select a Job Title (Scroll and Select) :
Step 2 of 4: Find a Job
Job Listings
.
Step 3 of 4: Prepare For a Career
No selection made: Please make a selection from 1) SELECT A CAREER/JOB(at top of page)
Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates
Description: Arbitrate, advise, adjudicate, or administer justice in a court of law. May sentence defendant in criminal cases according to government statutes or sentencing guidelines. May determine liability of defendant in civil cases. May perform wedding ceremonies.
Please click on a section below to expand and see detailed occupational information related to "Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates":
U.S. Total Employment (2023):
29,400U.S. Total Employment (2033 est.):
30,400
Employment Change (2023-2033 est.):
1,000 (3.4%) Average Annual Job Openings (2023-2033 est.):
1,500
Core Duties
Supplemental Duties
| Important Supplemental Job Duties (in order of importance)
For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 89 (%) | Description: Provide information regarding the judicial system or other legal issues through the media and public speeches. |
| Importance: 81 (%) | Description: Perform wedding ceremonies. |
| Importance: 59 (%) | Description: Rule on custody and access disputes, and enforce court orders regarding custody and support of children. |
| Importance: 58 (%) | Description: Conduct preliminary hearings to decide issues, such as whether there is reasonable and probable cause to hold defendants in felony cases. |
| Importance: 49 (%) | Description: Grant divorces and divide assets between spouses. |
| Importance: 41 (%) | Description: Participate in judicial tribunals to help resolve disputes. |
Work Activities
| Important General Work Activities (in order of importance)
For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 98 (%) | Description: Making Decisions and Solving Problems: Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems. |
| Importance: 96 (%) | Description: Getting Information: Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources. |
| Importance: 93 (%) | Description: Performing for or Working Directly with the Public: Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests. |
| Importance: 90 (%) | Description: Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards: Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards. |
| Importance: 88 (%) | Description: Processing Information: Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data. |
| Importance: 84 (%) | Description: Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge: Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job. |
| Importance: 83 (%) | Description: Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People: Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people. |
| Importance: 82 (%) | Description: Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events: Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events. |
| Importance: 80 (%) | Description: Documenting/Recording Information: Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form. |
| Importance: 77 (%) | Description: Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work: Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work. |
| Importance: 77 (%) | Description: Scheduling Work and Activities: Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others. |
| Importance: 77 (%) | Description: Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others: Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used. |
| Importance: 71 (%) | Description: Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates: Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person. |
| Importance: 71 (%) | Description: Working with Computers: Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information. |
| Importance: 71 (%) | Description: Analyzing Data or Information: Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts. |
| Importance: 71 (%) | Description: Performing Administrative Activities: Performing day-to-day administrative tasks such as maintaining information files and processing paperwork. |
| Importance: 70 (%) | Description: Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others: Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others. |
| Importance: 70 (%) | Description: Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships: Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time. |
| Importance: 69 (%) | Description: Communicating with People Outside the Organization: Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail. |
| Importance: 62 (%) | Description: Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others: Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks. |
| Importance: 61 (%) | Description: Thinking Creatively: Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions. |
Specific Work Activities
| Important Specific Work Activities
How can you begin to build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. Specific Work Activities appear below: |
|
| Administer oaths to court participants. | |
| Arbitrate disputes between parties to resolve legal conflicts. | |
| Authorize payments to settle legal disputes. | |
| Conduct hearings to investigate legal issues. | |
| Direct courtroom activities or procedures. | |
| Identify implications for cases from legal precedents or other legal information. | |
| Inform the public about policies, services or procedures. | |
| Make decisions in legal cases. | |
| Prepare written decisions for legal proceedings. | |
| Research relevant legal materials to aid decision making. | |
| Rule on admissibility of legal proceedings. | |
| Serve court ordered documents. | |
| Supervise activities of other legal personnel. | |
Essential Skills
| Essential Skills (in order of importance) These are the foundational skills that are most important for success in this occupation. For the most important Essential Skills, how can you begin building experience and practice so that you are prepared for this type of occupation? |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 83 (%) | Essential Skill: Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. |
| Importance: 81 (%) | Essential Skill: Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems. |
| Importance: 71 (%) | Essential Skill: Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents. |
| Importance: 68 (%) | Essential Skill: Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience. |
| Importance: 68 (%) | Essential Skill: Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively. |
| Importance: 66 (%) | Essential Skill: Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making. |
| Importance: 64 (%) | Essential Skill: Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action. |
Transferable Skills
| Transferable Skills (in order of importance) These are career-portable skills that can help you move between different jobs and industries. For the most important Transferable Skills, how can you start developing them now so they will open up more career options for you? |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 71 (%) | Transferable Skill: Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one. |
| Importance: 68 (%) | Transferable Skill: Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions. |
| Importance: 66 (%) | Transferable Skill: Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do. |
| Importance: 56 (%) | Transferable Skill: Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others. |
| Importance: 54 (%) | Transferable Skill: Negotiation: Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences. |
Day-in-the-Life Summaries
| Day-in-the-Life Summaries These summaries show the main types of activities you are likely to perform on a regular basis in this occupation. How can you imagine your typical workday — using these examples to see if this type of work fits you? |
| Activity: Authorize business activities or transactions. |
| Activity: Consult legal materials or public records. |
| Activity: Direct legal activities. |
| Activity: Explain regulations, policies, or procedures. |
| Activity: Investigate criminal or legal matters. |
| Activity: Make legal decisions. |
| Activity: Mediate disputes. |
| Activity: Perform court-related or other legal administrative activities. |
| Activity: Record information about legal matters. |
| Activity: Research laws, precedents, or other legal data. |
| Activity: Supervise personnel activities. |
Knowledge Required
| Knowledge Required (in order of importance)
For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
|
| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 96 (%) | Description: Law and Government: Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process. |
| Importance: 88 (%) | Description: English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar. |
| Importance: 71 (%) | Description: Administration and Management: Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources. |
| Importance: 66 (%) | Description: Psychology: Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders. |
| Importance: 64 (%) | Description: Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction. |
| Importance: 61 (%) | Description: Public Safety and Security: Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions. |
Software Skills
| Software Skills These are examples of software tools commonly used in this occupation, organized from most to least important for your career preparation. How can you start learning or practicing the highest-priority tools so that you feel confident using them on the job? |
| High-Priority Tech Skills |
| Electronic mail software: |
| Microsoft Outlook |
| Office suite software: |
| Microsoft Office software |
| Spreadsheet software: |
| Microsoft Excel |
| Emerging Tech Skills |
| Document management software: |
| Adobe Acrobat |
| Presentation software: |
| Microsoft PowerPoint |
| Word processing software: |
| Microsoft Word |
| General Software Tools |
| Data base user interface and query software: |
| Online databases |
| Document management software: |
| Hyland OnBase Enterprise Content Management |
| Electronic mail software: |
| Email software |
| Information retrieval or search software: |
| LexisNexis Thomson Reuters Westlaw |
| Internet browser software: |
| Web browser software |
| Legal management software: |
| Courtroom scheduling software |
| Video conferencing software: |
| Videoconferencing software |
| Web page creation and editing software: |
Preparation Required
| Preparation Required - How much preparation is needed to obtain this type of job? |
| Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed |
| Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job. |
| Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree). |
| Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training. |
| These occupations often involve coordinating, training, supervising, or managing the activities of others to accomplish goals. Very advanced communication and organizational skills are required. Examples include pharmacists, lawyers, astronomers, biologists, clergy, physician assistants, and veterinarians. |
Education Required
| Education Required - by frequency of educational attainment This shows you details about the level of education most commonly held by workers in this occupation. How can you begin planning the educational pathway that will prepare you best for this type of work? |
|
| Frequency of Attainment (%) | Level of Education |
| Frequency of Attainment: 66.5 (%) | Level of Education: Doctoral Degree |
| Frequency of Attainment: 23.3 (%) | Level of Education: First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession. |
| Frequency of Attainment: 9.8 (%) | Level of Education: Post-Doctoral Training |
| Frequency of Attainment: 0.2 (%) | Level of Education: Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production) |
| Frequency of Attainment: 0.2 (%) | Level of Education: Some College Courses |
| Frequency of Attainment: 0.2 (%) | Level of Education: Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) |
Training and Experience Required
| Training and Experience Required - by frequency of training and work experience attainment This section shows you how often different types of training and work experience are required for this occupation. How can you start gaining the kinds of experience and training that are most common for this type of work? |
|
| Frequency of Attainment (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience |
| Frequency of Attainment: 31.2 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 8 years, up to and including 10 years |
| Frequency of Attainment: 19.9 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 6 years, up to and including 8 years |
| Frequency of Attainment: 17.5 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years |
| Frequency of Attainment: 15.8 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 10 years |
| Frequency of Attainment: 9.9 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years |
| Frequency of Attainment: 5.8 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: None |
Local Salary Information
Select a State (scroll and Select) :
Please select a State to see State and National Salaries
Professional Associations
| Professional Associations These associations connect people who work in this occupation or related fields. How can you start using these associations to learn more, build your network, or find mentoring opportunities? |
|
|
|
|
American Judges Association (AJA)
| |
|
National Association of Drug Court Professionals
| |
Job Listings
| Job Listings and Similar Occupational Titles Scroll and click to see current job listings. How can you use these listings to identify common requirements, keywords, and skills you should highlight on your resume? |
Related Careers to Consider
Step 4 of 4: Career-Specific Resources
This section contains detailed external resources appropriate to "Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates". Explore these resources to start learning more. Links are constantly updated, so bookmark this page.
Videos
Here is a listing of videos related to this career. A great way to get a quick overview of the occupation.
Resumes
Here are resources that allow you to see example resumes for this occupation. It may be helpful to see examples from others who have this type of experience.
Job Description
Here are resources that provide job descriptions, which are vital for resume and interview preparation.
Interviews
There are many great resources that can help guide you through the interview process. These links provide help in preparing and performing an effective interview, specific to this occupation.
Step-by-Step
Here are links to help guide you, step-by-step, to become a(n): Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates
LinkedIn®
Here are links to various posts and groups from LinkedIn ® that relate to this occupation. Great way to start building professional contacts in the field that might be most appropriate for you.
Developed by Dr. Ralph Jagodka © 2026 About This Page
© 2026 - Disclaimer - Privacy