In a recent episode of the HigherEdJobs Podcast Mark Need, attorney, venture legal analyst in residence with IU Ventures, and professor and clinical director at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, joined co-hosts Andy Hibel and Kelly Cherwin for a conversation about how legal professionals can transition into careers in higher education.
The discussion began with a listener submission:
“I have a JD and a bar license, but I have always had interest in higher ed. I want to work with law students and use my law degree to help students start their careers, but I have had difficulties getting into higher ed roles because I have little to no experience in working with higher ed and do not know many people in the field.”
Need began by acknowledging how common this concern is among practicing attorneys who want to stay connected to legal education. He explained that many law graduates believe scholarship is the primary path back into law schools, noting that for practitioners, “the path is less clear.”
One of Need’s main recommendations was to think about teaching and not wait for a formal academic role to begin. “If your path is teaching, my advice to you is go teach,” he said. Teaching, he explained, can include adjunct roles, professional workshops, guest lectures, or community-based presentations. Sharing his own experience, Need explained how teaching business law as an adjunct became an early entry point into higher education and helped him develop a clearer approach to pedagogy. “It gave me the opportunity to talk about how I thought about teaching,” he said.
Need also touched on the importance of staying connected to one’s law school. From his perspective inside legal education, institutions are eager for alumni engagement that can bring experience into the academic environment. “We need everybody’s help,” he said, noting that law schools value alumni who can contribute real-world perspective. “It’s not just money either. We love people’s time.”
Andy broadened the discussion by pointing out non-teaching roles across campus where legal training is especially relevant. “We work here at HigherEdJobs with lots of university counsel offices,” Andy said, encouraging listeners to consider general counsel roles, which often function similarly to in-house legal teams. He also highlighted law student career services and development offices as alternate pathways for those interested in supporting students beyond the classroom.
Kelly reinforced that breaking into higher education requires initiative rather than a passive job search. “The job seeker can’t be passive and just kind of wait and hope that someone reaches out,” she said. On Need’s advice, she added that his examples showed “how to build your brand and teach where you can and stay connected.”
Need agreed, explaining that his own transition into higher education was shaped by years of consistent involvement. Because he stayed engaged with his law school through multiple acts of service and participation, he was top of mind when an opportunity eventually opened. “I was on the tip of their tongue,” he said, “because I had been down there a couple of times a year trying to help out.”
The episode also explored experiential learning, and the role JDs can play in bridging the gap between classroom instruction and professional practice. Need described clinics and hands-on programs as essential, particularly in law schools. “Nowhere is that chasm greater than in law school,” he said, explaining that experiential opportunities help students better understand the realities of practice before graduation.
Throughout the conversation, Need made clear that a law degree can open doors across higher education, but those doors are rarely opened through credentials alone. Law practitioners should focus on staying connected, and contributing in different ways over time. Whether through teaching, mentoring, experiential learning, or administrative leadership, he emphasized that higher education needs practitioners who are ultimately willing to engage. “The opportunities in higher ed are very broad,” Need said. “The JD is an amazing degree to do all kinds of things, not just go practice law, and higher ed is rife with opportunities for that.”
For the full conversation on creating opportunity with a law degree, listen to the episode below and hear Need share practical ways to stay connected, get involved, and move into higher education roles.
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