The curriculum may cover topics such as land use controls, agricultural law, international environmental law, mediation, and water rights law. In this specialization, students prepare to practice law in music, television, film, and other creative industries. The curriculum intersects with intellectual property law, exploring topics such as copyright law, motion picture distribution, digital media, television law, and trademark law. Doctorate degrees are designed for legal professionals seeking career opportunities in scholarly research.
At this level, admission is extremely competitive. It is not unusual for a law school to only accept one or two doctoral students each year and to only consider students that graduated from the same institution.
Although these degrees are the highest academic programs available in law, each has its own structure and purpose. The four options include:. The PhD in Law is ideal for JD graduates who wish to pursue academic research, scholarship, and teaching at the postsecondary level.
The DSJ degree is designed for law graduates who hold an LLM and desire to pursue individual legal research and writing. The program culminates in a dissertation that should advance and make a significant contribution to legal scholarship. The SJD degree is a research-focused program designed for students interested in performing legal research and writing in preparation for leadership roles in public positions or legal scholarship.
The D. L program is closely aligned to the DSJ degree, but concentrates on the comparative aspects of law, particularly international law, highlighting the differences among legal systems throughout the world. Doctoral students build progressive, elevated skills in a range of areas.
Some of these include:. Students are able to analyze issues, develop informed plans of inquiry, conduct research, and make data-driven recommendations. Students develop an advanced understanding of legal issues, theory, and the legal system alongside critical reasoning skills.
Students gain advanced understanding in specialized policy areas or domains and are able to make expert recommendations in each area. Students are able to communicate effectively, writing and speaking clearly for varied audiences and purposes. Currently, no law school offers a fully online Juris Doctor degree approved by the American Bar Association. In order to sit for state bar examinations, students must earn a degree from an ABA-accredited institution.
While fully online programs do not exist, some universities and law schools may allow students to complete some coursework via online learning formats. This includes students in dual, concurrent, or joint degree programs. There are numerous considerations when deciding to pursue a law degree.
Prospective students need to ensure they are getting the right return on their investment by finding a law school that matches both their educational needs and career goals. Below is a list of factors students should review before deciding to apply to law school. Passing the bar examination is the basic requirement to practice law. Traditionally, law schools prepare students to take the bar examination in the state the institution is located.
Prospective students should consider where they want to practice law as that will influence where they attend school. However, some states have reciprocal agreements allowing graduates from one state to practice law in another after passing the bar examination. Attending law school means reading, and lots of it. Law students should consider the research facilities and libraries at their school of choice, examining the quality of the library collection, staff, research materials, and even hours of operation.
The success of any student hinges on faculty members. Faculty-student ratio is also important, as it is an indicator of how personalized the learning experience will be at each school. Generally speaking, law students are not required to specialize when they graduate. Secondly, students seeking a well-rounded education should ensure the school offers a rich and diverse list of classes that complement coursework in general law. Through educational training, lawyers develop a range of professional skills, most of which revolve around information.
Lawyers must be able to consume, digest, analyze, and process vast amounts of data. Lawyers should be keen researchers, able to decipher complex legal documents and case studies. Another major skill is communication, both verbally and in written form, which enables proper conveyance of ideas to clients, arbitrators, legal counsel, juries, and the general public.
Although certification has become an important part of the legal profession, formal board certification of lawyers is a fairly recent industry shift. Certification programs are entirely voluntary and lawyers not certified in a specialization e. Lawyers may pursue certification from private ABA-accredited programs, state sponsored plans, and state-accredited private certifiers. For example, lawyers may gain board certification in multiple areas from the National Board of Legal Specialty Certification, including the following:.
Like other fields, the legal industry is experiencing a growing integration of technology into everyday work. In addition to standard office tools and technology e. Nationally, the BLS projects a 4 percent growth of employment for lawyers between and , translating to an additional 32, positions created during this time. Five of the most in-demand practice areas are detailed below. Driven by an increase in proceedings, there is a growing need for skilled legal specialists in areas of commercial litigation and medical malpractice.
Litigation is becoming an increasingly important practice area in the wake of the pandemic. Insurance companies, hospitals, drug manufacturers, and other medical providers are increasingly hiring attorneys to handle litigation, insurance defense, payment disputes, compliance, and patient privacy. Students and parents are eligible. Skip to content Skip to main menu.
Facebook Twitter Linkedin You are here. Applying Getting Into College. Here are the different types of law degrees, including those for individuals who want to work in this field without becoming lawyers:. A Master of Legal Studies is a master's degree offered at some law schools for those who wish to study law but do not want to become an attorney. A Master of Legal Studies is beneficial for those who regularly interact with lawyers as part of their job or want to gain a further understanding of the law.
Social work. A Master of Legal Studies teaches students courses on criminal law and procedures, constitutional law and policy and other legal-related topics and takes months to complete.
A Master of Dispute Resolution is a master's degree that teaches students conflict resolution and negotiation skills. The degree covers courses in conflict management, arbitration practice, negotiation and meditation theory. A Master of Dispute Resolution, which takes months to complete, is helpful for those interested in resolving conflicts between parties and managing workplace issues but don't plan to practice law. In addition to working in the legal industry, these professionals often work in health care, human resources and education.
This degree is a requirement for those interested in becoming a lawyer. A JD is a graduate degree in law that teaches students about civil procedures, contracts, constitutional law, criminal law, property and administrative or regulatory law. Courses focus on how to research cases, prosecute or defend, argue on behalf of both individual clients and businesses and prepare for the state bar exam.
Graduates become licensed attorneys after passing their state bar exam. The program usually takes three years to complete. A Master of Laws is a postgraduate degree to expand knowledge in law and specialize in a specific area of law.
This degree is for those with an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree or an undergraduate degree in a related subject.
LLM students select electives from specialized areas such as copyright law, environmental law, commercial law, international law, human rights law and tax law. Graduates who also have a JD continue their work as lawyers but serve more specialized clients based on their areas of expertise. A Master of Laws typically takes one to two years to complete, depending on if a student is taking courses full time or part time.
A Doctor of Juridical Science is the most advanced law-related degree. Skip to main content. Search Discover When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.
Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures. Log In. Register Now. Feb 12, Take a look at these popular majors for future law students. History Examining how the past has helped to shape and define our present—here in the United States and around the world—will help you put into context our current justice system and laws.
English Having a strong command of written and verbal skills will take you far as an attorney whether you're writing, researching or speaking in court. Philosophy Philosophy majors delve deep into the study of logic, ethics, and morality—areas of thought that also happen to be the cornerstones of law.
Political Science Of all majors, this may be the closest to a "law school" curriculum as you can get. Economics Not only are economics majors trained to think logically and analytically, but economic policies and procedures, as well as how resources are distributed and managed, are topics closely connected to the legal issues you'll encounter as a lawyer. Business General business knowledge can be applied in almost any industry, and that holds true for aspiring attorneys as well.
General Tips Consider majoring in a discipline that is related to the type of law you want to practice. Since you don't have to declare a specialty during law school, building a background as an undergraduate in subjects that interest you most is a great start.
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