Law Degrees And Specializations: Everything You Need to Know
So you’ve chosen to become a lawyer? You worked hard in high school, graduated, and aced your LSATs to go into law school.
But you still have one crucial decision to make: which field will you study. There are so many alternatives that you can feel a bit overwhelmed. We wanted to aid you by breaking down the fields.
- Legal Fields
This list of law fields will allow you to evaluate some possibilities you may not have considered previously, which may help you pick those electives more effectively.
- Admiralty – This is a rather specific area of the law that deals with shipping, navigation, water, and insurance. Any aspect of the law about marine law.
- Business – This subject is divided into two types: small business and corporate. Both areas are concerned with commercial and industrial rules. This category includes things like taxation and trademarking.
- Constitutional— When it comes to legal disciplines, this may be one of the most extensive. The lawyer who selects this path will gain a thorough grasp of the constitution and how to interpret it.
- Criminal – Criminal law is sometimes known as public law because it deals with the prosecution of criminal activities that have been designated as such by legislation and laws.
- Environmental– This is the newest field, having been created as a result of a federal statute signed in 1970. Lawyers in this sector will either prosecute or defend corporations and people whose environmental policies have been brought into question.
- First Amendment— This is the field that focuses on people’s rights to free speech, religion, and the press, as well as other provisions signed into law by the US Congress.
- Health Care– This is the profession for you if you want to help battle state and federal health care policies. You will help with malpractice, patient rights, and bioethical policies.
- Intellectual Property (I.P.)
Lawyers that specialize in intellectual property law will be able to assist innovators and businesses with patents, trademarks, and copyright laws. This attorney will strive to acquire and enforce these institutions in order to preserve the creator’s intellectual property.
Patent law is also a specialization in and of itself. The lawyer who picks this specialty will assist innovators in obtaining documents proving that their product is theirs and no one else’s. When this patent is infringed upon, these attorneys initiate a lawsuit.
- Degree Programs in Collaboration
There are also some colleges that provide combined degree programs. This is where you may earn both a JD and an MBA to provide the future lawyer more marketability once they’re out on the job market.
Finally, consider the following:
Choosing a subject of law to practice might be difficult if you are unfamiliar with all of your alternatives. The list above is exhaustive, but even within these subjects, there are subgroups that you should study before making your final decision on what to pursue.