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At what point does a law student decide what type of law, ie. real estate, personal injury, patent, etc., to study and practice in his or her future?

I am guessing after 1L, since most of my friends choose specialized courses in 2L years...

Depends. The school you go to and your rank in that school will do a lot of choosing for you.

But assuming you aren't limited by those factors, you need to decide at the end of your first year if you want to go to a firm or not. Most OCIs are very early in the school year during 2L, so if you're trying for a firm that's when it happens. If you don't want to go to a firm you need to know that also, because in general what you do your 2L summer is what you're going to do when you graduate (if you're lucky, in this economy), so you need to try and find a prosecutors/gov't/PI job.

If you go to a big firm, almost all of them will let you try several things over the summer and make you pick when you go back after graduation.

inthefuture wrote:At what point does a law student decide what type of law, ie. real estate, personal injury, patent, etc., to study and practice in his or her future?

When deciding whether to go to law school or not.

I don't understand what motivates people to bother going to law school if they don't even know what they want to practice. Research it on google and go talk to sole practitioners/small firms in your local area in that field.

I already know exactly what kind of law i want to do. It helps me evaluate the clinic offerings at various schools.

Matter of fact if i could get away with it i would go solo straight out of law school. But I will likely work for someone else a couple years first. It's easier to get use to being broke as a beginning solo when you're already fresh out of being a broke law student though. You get use to money from elsewhere it becomes hard to turn your back on it. If i ended up in biglaw I don't know, i could see it being nearly impossible for me to give up a 6 figure salary. Working long hours doesn't bother me I once pulled a 17 hour shift in a fast food restaurant...and i am done having kids so there is no need for me to make agonizing career decisions once i'm in. The niceties of being a woman who had her kids before the full launch of career. I'm probly more likely to make partner than most of my female co-graduates, actually, cause 99% of them will be taking time off to have kids, waffling on whether they want to go back to the grind of work work work, while I'll still be clocking my hours.

All of these answers are somewhat incorrect.. You can begin taking specialized COURSES as early as second semester depending on the school but this doesnt necessarily decide what type of law you practice. Your work determines your specialty for the most part. Things like patent law and tax law are specialized and if you have the engineering degree or are a CPA you can get hired straight into that. But for other things if you are beginning at a firm you dont really have the leverage to pick and choose cases. They will put you whereever they need you and it is up to you to distinguish/align yourself in a certain kind of work over time.

tkgrrett wrote:All of these answers are somewhat incorrect.. You can begin taking specialized COURSES as early as second semester depending on the school but this doesnt necessarily decide what type of law you practice. Your work determines your specialty for the most part. Things like patent law and tax law are specialized and if you have the engineering degree or are a CPA you can get hired straight into that. But for other things if you are beginning at a firm you dont really have the leverage to pick and choose cases. They will put you whereever they need you and it is up to you to distinguish/align yourself in a certain kind of work over time.

Okay so how did the folks currently doing immigration law, for example, end up where they are? By being shunted left and right at non-immigration law firms?

tkgrrett wrote:All of these answers are somewhat incorrect.. You can begin taking specialized COURSES as early as second semester depending on the school but this doesnt necessarily decide what type of law you practice. Your work determines your specialty for the most part. Things like patent law and tax law are specialized and if you have the engineering degree or are a CPA you can get hired straight into that. But for other things if you are beginning at a firm you dont really have the leverage to pick and choose cases. They will put you whereever they need you and it is up to you to distinguish/align yourself in a certain kind of work over time.

This is not more correct than my answer, but it is correct.

legalized wrote:

tkgrrett wrote:All of these answers are somewhat incorrect.. You can begin taking specialized COURSES as early as second semester depending on the school but this doesnt necessarily decide what type of law you practice. Your work determines your specialty for the most part. Things like patent law and tax law are specialized and if you have the engineering degree or are a CPA you can get hired straight into that. But for other things if you are beginning at a firm you dont really have the leverage to pick and choose cases. They will put you whereever they need you and it is up to you to distinguish/align yourself in a certain kind of work over time.

Okay so how did the folks currently doing immigration law, for example, end up where they are? By being shunted left and right at non-immigration law firms?

That quote only applies to work at bigger firms. If you go to a smaller firm it will either be a very specialized practice, or a general practice. If it's specialized you'll do that one type of work only; if its a GP, you'll take whatever walks in the door. There isn't big money in immigration cases, so that usually falls to small firms or solos.

legalized wrote:

tkgrrett wrote:All of these answers are somewhat incorrect.. You can begin taking specialized COURSES as early as second semester depending on the school but this doesnt necessarily decide what type of law you practice. Your work determines your specialty for the most part. Things like patent law and tax law are specialized and if you have the engineering degree or are a CPA you can get hired straight into that. But for other things if you are beginning at a firm you dont really have the leverage to pick and choose cases. They will put you whereever they need you and it is up to you to distinguish/align yourself in a certain kind of work over time.

Okay so how did the folks currently doing immigration law, for example, end up where they are? By being shunted left and right at non-immigration law firms?

Immigration falls under specialized firms just like tax and patent.

tkgrrett wrote:

legalized wrote:

tkgrrett wrote:All of these answers are somewhat incorrect.. You can begin taking specialized COURSES as early as second semester depending on the school but this doesnt necessarily decide what type of law you practice. Your work determines your specialty for the most part. Things like patent law and tax law are specialized and if you have the engineering degree or are a CPA you can get hired straight into that. But for other things if you are beginning at a firm you dont really have the leverage to pick and choose cases. They will put you whereever they need you and it is up to you to distinguish/align yourself in a certain kind of work over time.

Okay so how did the folks currently doing immigration law, for example, end up where they are? By being shunted left and right at non-immigration law firms?

Immigration falls under specialized firms just like tax and patent.

That's a terrible comparison. Any area of law that people are doing out of shitty storefronts on Jamaica ave. is not analogous to IP work.

ITE you choose it by what job offers you get as a 3L, if any.

Renzo wrote:

tkgrrett wrote:

legalized wrote:

tkgrrett wrote:All of these answers are somewhat incorrect.. You can begin taking specialized COURSES as early as second semester depending on the school but this doesnt necessarily decide what type of law you practice. Your work determines your specialty for the most part. Things like patent law and tax law are specialized and if you have the engineering degree or are a CPA you can get hired straight into that. But for other things if you are beginning at a firm you dont really have the leverage to pick and choose cases. They will put you whereever they need you and it is up to you to distinguish/align yourself in a certain kind of work over time.

Okay so how did the folks currently doing immigration law, for example, end up where they are? By being shunted left and right at non-immigration law firms?

Immigration falls under specialized firms just like tax and patent.

That's a terrible comparison. Any area of law that people are doing out of shitty storefronts on Jamaica ave. is not analogous to IP work.

wow okay, family law?

can't tell me there's no money THERE.

family law would be one of those you work your way to.

tkgrrett wrote:family law would be one of those you work your way to.

How? I never hear anyone talking of their 2l summer at A Family Law Firm.

legalized wrote:

tkgrrett wrote:family law would be one of those you work your way to.

How? I never hear anyone talking of their 2l summer at a family law firm.

Thats my point.. it isnt specialized. You work at a firm and get in on as many family cases as you can until you build a rep. Family law isnt very desirable though, most lawyers and judges hate it.