Last Updated: August 06, 2022

Pursuing a Degree in Law

Students pursuing a career in law will be familiar with the importance of choosing an institution in this field. This is mainly because students must specialize in topics relevant to their choice of future career. They will have to be extra careful in choosing a school that offers the best curriculum for their specialization. Students will also have to be mindful of the core curriculum offered along with the training options they will receive upon course completion.

A law degree will allow candidates to work as paralegals to judges, depending on the level of degree they have completed, their specialization, and the kind of certification exam they have cleared.

Cost of Studying Law

The cost of taking a law degree will depend on the institution one is applying to, the specialization they are choosing, and even the degree level one is aiming for. The fee will also vary depending on whether the institution is privately or publicly funded. Publicly funded institutions will have a lower tuition fee than privately funded institutions and multiple scholarships that can reduce their financial burden. The fees at public institutions will also differ for both in-state and out-of-state students, with out-of-state students having to sometimes pay 2 to 3 times the amount paid by in-state students.

The average cost of taking a law degree is around $42,000 for out-of-state students and about $28,000 for in-state students.

Best Fields to Pursue in Law

Candidates wishing to take up law must know the law field to specialize. Taking up one particular specialization will still require them to learn about other specializations since cases most often overlap between different fields of law. A few of the most popular specializations in the field of law are as follows-

Family Law

This field of specialization deals with all matters relating to a family. It will include marriage, divorce, child protection, and even things like adoption and juvenile offenses. This field often overlaps with other specializations like healthcare law, immigration & naturalization law, etc. After taking family law, one can further distinguish themselves in the field by taking up particular types of cases only. For example, after completing a specialization in family law, one can choose to be a divorce attorney and not deal with other parts of this specialization.

A family lawyer's salary ranges from $44,500 to $798,000 per year, with the median salary being $213,500 per year.

Commercial/Business Law

This specialization deals with laws that regulate persons and businesses who are involved in trade, sales, and commerce of any kind. It differs from corporate law since it focuses on aspects like mergers & acquisitions, company formation, etc., whereas the latter deals with the sale and distribution of assets. Candidates who take this specialization will have to get involved in other fields of law, depending on the business or organization they are dealing with. This implies that they must understand specializations like environmental law, food & safety laws, and even tax law as part of their practice. They will also be involved in banking, finance, bankruptcy, and business contracts.

Litigation

This is one of the most popular specializations in law and deals with resolving court disputes. This will include dealing with the dispute once it has reached the court. On the other hand, litigation begins with introducing the dispute to the planning and execution of a lawsuit. This field intersects with other specializations depending on the topic of dispute, and hence, candidates will often have to be well-versed in most fields of law if they specialize in this. The most commonly intersecting fields are intellectual property law and labor & employment law. But sometimes, this can extend to family law, as well.

The estimated average salary of a litigation lawyer is around $106,000 per year.

Labor and Employment

This specialization deals with all regulations between employees and employers. Candidates who take this field will handle cases involving overtime pay, worker’s compensation, child labor, parental leave, wages, etc. In the larger picture, they will be involved with unions, contracts, and workers’ benefits. The cases here will mainly involve litigation.

The average salary for an employment lawyer is around $87,000 per year.

Tax Law

The tax law specialization helps candidates understand and deal with business transactions, tax legislation, regulatory services, and even dispute relations within these spaces. Candidates will also be in charge of tax violation cases for both individuals and organizations. They will be involved with both civil and criminal cases, and if interested, they will be able to serve as tax court judges or clerks. Tax attorneys are the highest-paid lawyers in the country, with an average salary of around $122,000 per year.

Healthcare Law

This specialization deals with the laws that regulate the healthcare industry. Candidates will deal with both healthcare providers and service recipients. Their core responsibility will be to protect healthcare recipients from abuse and fraud in the system. A healthcare lawyer will receive a median salary of around $95,500 per year.

Corporate Law

Corporate law deals with the rights and relations of companies, organizations, and businesses. Sometimes it also includes the conduct of persons within this setup. They will be able to be in charge of advising businesses on legal rights and responsibilities along with the obligations they have to the society within the system.

Immigration & Naturalization Law

This specialization deals with immigration and aids foreign citizens who are moving into the US or have already moved to the US. Naturalization will add another step into this field and include helping them receive citizenship in the country. Candidates will work closely with families and economies from other parts of the world. They will have an average salary of around $84,000 per year while practicing in this field.

List of Top Law Schools

The best law schools in the country are-