So you have decided you want to be a lawyer? You have studied hard, graduated from high school, and passed your LSATs to get into law school.
But you still have one major decision – which field are you going to study. There are so many options that you may find yourself being a little overwhelmed. We wanted to break down the fields to help you.
Law Fields
This list of law fields will allow you to consider some options that you hadn’t, and that may help you choose those electives more efficiently.
- Admiralty – This is a pretty specialized niche for the law as it covers shipping, navigation, water, and insurance. Any part of the law that has to do with maritime law.
- Business – This field is broken down into two categories – small business and corporate. Both of the categories have to do with laws that pertain to commerce and industry. Things like taxes and trademarking fall under this field.
- Constitutional – When it comes to law fields, this might be one of the largest ones. The lawyer who chooses this field will develop a deep understanding of the constitution and interpret that document.
- Criminal – Criminal law is often called public law as it deals with the prosecution of criminal acts that have been deemed so by statutes and laws.
- Environmental – This may well be the newest field as it came into being after a federal bill passed in 1970. Lawyers in this field will prosecute or defend companies and individuals that have been called into question regarding their environmental practices.
- First Amendment – This is the field that focuses on the rights of the citizens of freedom of speech, religion, press, and other laws that have been passed into law by the US Congress.
- Health Care – If you want to help fight state and federal health care laws, this is your field. You will be assisting in malpractice, patient rights, and bioethical policies.
Intellectual Property
Those lawyers who want to help creators and entrepreneurs with patents, trademarks, and copyright laws will want to specialize in intellectual property law. This lawyer will work at acquiring and enforcing these establishments to protect the creator’s intellectual properties.
Patent law is a specialty in and of itself as well. The lawyer who chooses this discipline will help inventors acquire documentation that their product is theirs and no one else’s. These lawyers also file suit when this patent has been infringed on.
Joint Degree Programs
There are also some colleges out there that offer joint degree programs. This is where you can get a JD and an MBA at the same time to give the future lawyer more marketability once they are out on the job market.
Concluding Thoughts
Figuring out your field of law you want to pursue can be tricky if you are unaware of all your options. The list above is comprehensive, but even within these fields, there are subdivisions that you may want to investigate before making your final decision on what to pursue.
