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What does a law professor do?

Updated January 8, 2025
6 min read
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Law professor responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real law professor resumes:

  • Used blackboard online to manage students tests, grade papers and assign materials.
  • Prepare the first comprehensive syllabus for human rights subject in the institution.
  • Test, troubleshoot, and resolve issues with new implement software packages.
  • Prepare comments, oppositions, and other advocacy documents to be file at the FCC.
  • Draft pleadings and discovery demands/responses.
  • Experiment with different surface chemistry to improve quality of yields -participate in poster session and presentation to faculty and graduate students.
  • Supervise student mediations in court and community settings.
  • Used the online blackboard platform to conduct all online courses.Online platform used to conduct virtual classes: eCollege
  • Collaborate with team of researcher conciliators to handle consumer domestic law arbitration cases.

Law professor skills and personality traits

We calculated that 47% of Law Professors are proficient in Legal Research, Property Law, and Legal Studies. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Speaking skills, and Writing skills.

We break down the percentage of Law Professors that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Legal Research, 47%

    Performed legal research on academic project; Compiled summaries and created reports on findings.

  • Property Law, 14%

    Conducted classes on Obligations and Contracts, Property Law, and Torts & Damages

  • Legal Studies, 8%

    Developed core curriculum for the Department of Criminal Justice; Taught selected undergraduate courses in legal studies.

  • Constitutional Law, 7%

    Research Assistant Research Pennsylvania Constitutional law and cases Write annotations for the Pennsylvania Constitution website

  • Family Law, 5%

    Provided legal paperwork information to litigants regarding family law, civil harassment temporary restraining orders and name changes.

  • Ethics, 3%

    Author: Property Management in Texas: Law, Ethics, Principles, and Practices; Operations 101: A Primer.

"legal research," "property law," and "legal studies" are among the most common skills that law professors use at work. You can find even more law professor responsibilities below, including:

Interpersonal skills. One of the key soft skills for a law professor to have is interpersonal skills. You can see how this relates to what law professors do because "postsecondary teachers need to work well with others for tasks such as instructing students and serving on committees." Additionally, a law professor resume shows how law professors use interpersonal skills: "created original syllabus with emphasis on movement experiences to foster intra and interpersonal awareness. "

Speaking skills. Many law professor duties rely on speaking skills. "postsecondary teachers need good communication skills to present lectures and provide feedback to students.," so a law professor will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways law professor responsibilities rely on speaking skills: "presented skills class covering interviewing, client counseling, negotiating tactics, and oral argument presentations. "

Writing skills. law professors are also known for writing skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to law professor responsibilities, because "postsecondary teachers need strong writing ability to publish original research and analysis." A law professor resume example shows how writing skills is used in the workplace: "retired) delivered courses in legal research & writing, advocacy, and property law. "

All law professor skills

The three companies that hire the most law professors are:

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Compare different law professors

Law professor vs. Justice

Justices are court officials in charge of making the final decision of cases on the Supreme Court and appeals courts. They can be appointed or elected by the higher court officials. While they do not hold trials, they review documentation that comes from lower courts before decision making. They hear oral argumentation on certain cases from attorneys. Full court justices decide on combining prominent or more complex cases. They also issue a well-written legal opinion.

We looked at the average law professor salary and compared it with the wages of a justice. Generally speaking, justices are paid $99,884 lower than law professors per year.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, law professor responsibilities require skills like "property law," "legal studies," "constitutional law," and "family law." Meanwhile a typical justice has skills in areas such as "customer service," "public safety," "direct supervision," and "enterprise architecture." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Justices earn the highest salaries when working in the government industry, with an average yearly salary of $62,654. On the other hand, law professors are paid more in the education industry with an average salary of $133,535.The education levels that justices earn slightly differ from law professors. In particular, justices are 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a law professor. Additionally, they're 32.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Law professor vs. Associate justice

A criminal justice instructor teaches students criminal justice-related courses. As an instructor, they must develop syllabi and course plans, prepare lectures, prepare learning materials such as presentations and visual aids, administer examinations, and grade students. In addition to facilitating discussions about different criminal justice theories, an instructor may also participate in research studies and coordinate with other instructors for committee works.

Associate justice positions earn lower pay than law professor roles. They earn a $98,916 lower salary than law professors per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Law professors and associate justices both require similar skills like "legal research," "family law," and "ethics" to carry out their responsibilities.

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, law professor responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "property law," "legal studies," "constitutional law," and "law schools." Meanwhile, an associate justice has duties that require skills in areas such as "criminal justice," "law enforcement," "social justice," and "student body." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

In general, associate justices achieve lower levels of education than law professors. They're 6.9% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 32.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Law professor vs. Criminal justice department chairperson

On average scale, criminal justice department chairpeople bring in lower salaries than law professors. In fact, they earn a $100,426 lower salary per year.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a law professor is likely to be skilled in "legal research," "property law," "legal studies," and "constitutional law," while a typical criminal justice department chairperson is skilled in "criminal justice," "public safety," "curriculum development," and "food service."

Criminal justice department chairpeople typically earn similar educational levels compared to law professors. Specifically, they're 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 35.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Law professor vs. Criminal justice instructor

Criminal justice instructors tend to earn a lower pay than law professors by an average of $100,863 per year.While both law professors and criminal justice instructors complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like ethics, syllabus, and course materials, the two careers vary in some skills.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between law professors and criminal justice instructors, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a law professor might have more use for skills like "legal research," "property law," "legal studies," and "constitutional law." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of criminal justice instructors require skills like "criminal justice," "law enforcement," "student learning," and "professional development. "

The education industry tends to pay the highest salaries for criminal justice instructors, with average annual pay of $51,769. Comparatively, the highest law professor annual salary comes from the education industry.In general, criminal justice instructors hold higher degree levels compared to law professors. Criminal justice instructors are 13.9% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 32.6% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of law professor

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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