Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates

People in this career often have these skills:

• 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.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
• Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
• Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.

People in this career often know a lot about:

• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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.
• 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.

People in this career often have talent in:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

People in this career often do these activities:

• Make decisions in legal cases.
• Direct courtroom activities or procedures.
• Prepare written decisions for legal proceedings.
• Research relevant legal materials to aid decision making.
• Identify implications for cases from legal precedents or other legal information.

• Rule on admissibility of legal proceedings.
• Conduct hearings to investigate legal issues.
• Authorize payments to settle legal disputes.
• Arbitrate disputes between parties to resolve legal conflicts.
• Serve court ordered documents.
• Supervise activities of other legal personnel.
• Inform the public about policies, services or procedures.
• Administer oaths to court participants.

• Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers

• Lawyers

• Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement Teachers, Postsecondary

• Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists

• Arbitrators, Mediators, and Conciliators

• Equal Opportunity Representatives and Officers

• Law Teachers, Postsecondary

• Judicial Law Clerks

• Political Scientists