The world of law is as vast as it is complex and choosing to pursue a legal career takes strong determination. It’s similar to a career in medicine in a way that you begin with a general scope of the study, but as you gain more experience and handle larger cases, you will have to choose your specialty.
Of course, there are general practice lawyers who are successful in their own right, which means you don’t necessarily have to specialize. However, specializing will help you develop a deeper level of expertise and understanding in your chosen area of practice. So, if you need help figuring out what you should specialize in, here are five of the most common areas of practice that you can consider:
If You Want to Help the Victims of Accidents…
You can practice under the field of personal injury law. In this area of practice, you will be able to help the people who sustained injuries and damages because of the other party’s negligence. This can include the physical, mental, and emotional injuries that the victim developed from the accident.
Becoming a personal injury attorney means that you’ll be in charge of helping your clients get the justice they deserve by filing the right claims and getting fair compensation for their injuries. The most common types of personal injury cases are vehicular accidents, slip and fall, medical malpractice, assault and battery, and product defects.
If You Want to Protect the Innocent Civilians…
You can practice in the field of criminal law. In this area of practice, you will be able to help the people who may have wrongfully been charged with crimes that they did not commit, especially because everyone is considered innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Becoming a defense attorney means that you will be spending the better part of your career in court to prove the innocence of your clients during trials. You can work for a private firm or as a public defendant, in which case you will be helping the individuals who cannot afford to have their own lawyers.
If You Want to Keep the Workplace Safe…
You can practice under the field of employment law. In this area of practice, you will be able to help people enforce their rights as employees who deserve equal pay for equal work. Additionally, you can make sure that they are working in a non-discriminatory and safe workplace environment.
Becoming a labor attorney means having the experience and expertise to help your clients enforce their employee rights without fear of retribution. Through this, you can ensure that no employee will have to work under unfair management or get discriminated against because of their differences.
If You Want to Save Kids from Messy Divorces…
You can practice in the field of family law. In this area of practice, you will be able to help separating couples handle their divorce in a manner that does not compromise the well-being of their families. This is especially important because children almost always get caught in the crossfire of divorcing parents.
Becoming a family lawyer means that you can help families stay as civil and amicable as possible, even if the parents are no longer together. Aside from handling divorce cases, you can also help parents resolve any issues regarding child custody or adoption and battered spouses in domestic violence cases.
If You Want to Defend Mother Nature…
You can practice under the field of environmental and natural resources law. In this area of practice, you will be able to somewhat take control over the negative impacts of human activity on the environment and be involved in the decision-making process when it comes to how natural resources are being used.
Becoming an environmental lawyer means that you will be able to work with clients directly dealing in practices such as mining, pollution management, deforestation, or air and water quality. But you could also work with businesses to ensure that they are compliant with the local and state policies surrounding their operations.
Of course, there are many other fields of law that you can choose to practice in. For instance, intellectual property law aims to protect the legal rights of creative outputs and inventions. Another area of practice is real estate law, which deals with legal issues surrounding the buying, selling, and leasing of properties.
Knowing the right field of law to practice in is key to building a successful legal career. No one expects you to determine what area of practice you want to specialize in when you set foot in law school. But the sooner you narrow down your choices for your specialization, the faster you can begin your career as a lawyer.
