Law Careers

Success as a lawyer or in many law related careers require the ability to carefully analyze a problem, to collect relevant information, to combine information from various sources to reach a conclusion, and to relate your conclusion to others. These are all skills that a psychology degree develops, particularly with research oriented courses. If you are considering a career in law, you may want to see what courses are available to improve your analytical thinking skills. In addition to classes in inferential statistics, courses in logic (usually in the philosophy department) will look good on your resume and help to improve your ability toward rational argument. During the summer, it would be useful to find a job or internship working for a law firm or courthouse to determine how you see yourself fitting in to the legal world and which areas of law interest you the most.

Arenas in which law is practiced are varied and encompass many diverse settings. There are large, medium, and small law firms; government agencies at the federal, state and local levels; civil legal services organizations; public interest law firms; public defender offices; prosecutors offices; and law reform/policy organizations. For each practice setting, there are typically different practice areas. For example, direct service providers may work on poverty issues, corporate law firms may work on mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcy, real estate and more. Government lawyers work on a host of issues- for instance, the U.S. Department of Agriculture addresses many cutting-edge environmental legal issues, such as factory farming. Georgetown Law School provides a comprehensive list of different practice areas that may be useful.

View the legal careers available for each education level or click here to view them all.