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Constitutional law careers
Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 8:14 pm
by anubis1911
I apologize for my ignorance, but I was told by several people (although not necessarily intelligent people) that those who choose to specialize in Con Law are going to be stuck teaching regardless of where they go to school (i.e. Harvard vs UF). Is that generally or even remotely true? Do any con law specialties get hired by firms? If so, what do they generally do once they are there? Is there really that much Con Law work?
Sorry for all the questions.
20 imaginary points for each question answered...
Re: Constitutional law careers
Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2014 8:27 pm
by Nomo
To a degree every litigator works with the constitution. Criminal lawyers deal with the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th amendments.
government lawyers occasionally deal with 1st, 2nd, and 14th amendment questions. Environmental lawyers and other litigators dealing with administrative agencies deal with separation of powers issues. Plaintiff's lawyers deal with 1983 claims, sometimes called "constitutional litigation" and
government lawyers defend those claims
But, constitutional law specialists? There really aren't any. Maybe the guys at the ACLU or the DOJ civil rights division.
And hardly anybody teaches. To get a teaching job you need the same credentials that would make you competitive for a US Supreme Court clerkship.