|
|
|
J.D. (Juris Doctor) is the degree that allows you to practice law, and it
is usually completed in a three-year, full-time program. There are four-year,
part-time programs offered by many schools for students who might have
obligations that prohibit them from committing to a full-time program. Almost
all students who enter law school plan to work as lawyers. This can mean working
for a large or small law firm, for a government (federal, state, or local), or
for a corporation or nonprofit organization. Most other students who go to law
school have career goals that a law school education can help them achieve, like
working in politics, business, or policy-making. There are also some students
who are simply interested in law and legal theory and want to study it.
In order to get a state law license, new law school graduates take the so-called
Bar examination. The governing board for lawyers in each state designs
and administers this test which qualifies a person to practice law. This test is
usually taken in July, just after graduation from law school. You can take a bar
exam in any state, even if you did not go to law school in that state, and you
can take more than one state's bar exam. You might, for example, take the exam
in a neighboring state (New York if you live in New Jersey) or you might take
the exam for a state you expect to move to in the future. You can take these
exams at any point in your career, but it is easiest to pass them if you have
recently studied the subject matter. If you don't pass, you can retake the exam.
As a basic overview, there are two main types of law: civil and criminal. Criminal law deals with crimes committed against the state, whereas civil law encompasses disputes arising between individuals. There two types of lawyers: litigators and transactional attorneys. As will be further explained below, litigators are basically "courtroom lawyers." They take cases to trial and prepare any necessary paperwork. Transactional lawyers typically neither go to court, nor try cases. Instead, transactional lawyers "do deals."
Some of the most common areas of legal practice are listed below:
Litigation: Working to resolve disputes, usually through work at larger firms.
Trial Lawyers: Usually involved in business disputes, most of these lawyers practice criminal law or personal-injury and other negligence-related cases (torts).
Criminal Law: One reality that lawyers who work in this area must get used to is protecting people who committed crimes from being punished.
Family Law: Separation and divorce, child custody, disposition of property, inter-spousal violence and orders of protection, and adoption fall under this category.
Corporate (Transactional) Law: Assist businesses with issues involving stock, merging, dividing entities or shares.
Trusts and Estates/Tax: Help people with disposition of property after death. Analyzing tax consequences of business transactions.
Intellectual Property: Protect intellectual or abstract conceptual rights, such as patent and copyright issues. This area has become very active due in the technical fields.
International Law: There are two main braches of international law. Public interest law (NGOs) or government-related, in which lawyers work on agreements and treaties, usually based on experience in the area through previous government or corporate work. The international version of other substantive areas, like project finance or international trade, is well-represented at large corporate law firms which have a substantial number of international clients and oversee business dealings between companies.
Labor Law:
Advise business clients on the legalities of hiring and firing workers, fair
labor standards, workplace regulations, and negotiating with unions.
ERISA is a sub-specialty that deals with pension plans.
Real Estate: Transactions with buying, selling, and leasing property.
Bankruptcy: Work with businesses that can no longer operate and settle financial affairs with creditors.
Health Law: Assist owners and operators of health care facilities with federal and state regulations, financing, and insurance. Also might deal with medical ethics.
Environmental Law: Work with property owners, government agencies, de facto polluters, adjacent property owners, and insurance companies with settling pollution clean up efforts.
Entertainment and Sports Law: Advise in negotiating contracts and business transactions.
Adapted from Princeton Review's Pre-Law Companion.