What is the most employable area of law? Forum
- PigNipple
- Posts: 77
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What is the most employable area of law?
I, like many, would like to be idealistic and pursue public interest law. My need to be employed at graduation, though, tells me that I need to study in an area that has job opportunities. So, what are the most employable areas of law?
- ggocat
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
Solo practice doing crim defense (particularly if your state does appointments), family, estate, consumer bankruptcy, debt collection, etc.
Last edited by ggocat on Thu May 13, 2010 2:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- traehekat
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
Health and IP (more so patent than trademark and copyright) are said to be booming right now.
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
What's the deal with solo practice anyways? I know a few who don't even seem that prominent who bill around 200/hr. I'm sure no one wants a 25 year old kid who hasn't seen the inside of a court room defending them, but it seems fairly lucrative.ggocat wrote:Solo practice.
- traehekat
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
I'll be honest I don't know much at all regarding solo practice, but I feel like it is probably like opening any other kind of business - there is a decent amount of investment and risk involved and results will vary widely.RPK34 wrote:What's the deal with solo practice anyways? I know a few who don't even seem that prominent who bill around 200/hr. I'm sure no one wants a 25 year old kid who hasn't seen the inside of a court room defending them, but it seems fairly lucrative.ggocat wrote:Solo practice.
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- pugalicious
- Posts: 190
- Joined: Thu Mar 25, 2010 10:52 pm
Re: What is the most employable area of law?
Best case scenario: minor local celebrity status, your face on a billboard/bus stop, your own radio jingle. Worst case scenario: you add a small business loan onto your already massive load of loans and fail. You still get your own jingle, though...but it's the one you sing to passers-by while holding out a change cup on a freeway exit.traehekat wrote:I'll be honest I don't know much at all regarding solo practice, but I feel like it is probably like opening any other kind of business - there is a decent amount of investment and risk involved and results will vary widely.RPK34 wrote:What's the deal with solo practice anyways? I know a few who don't even seem that prominent who bill around 200/hr. I'm sure no one wants a 25 year old kid who hasn't seen the inside of a court room defending them, but it seems fairly lucrative.ggocat wrote:Solo practice.
Too drastic?
- mikehoe
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
Google solosez and contact the lawyers there to find out.RPK34 wrote:What's the deal with solo practice anyways? I know a few who don't even seem that prominent who bill around 200/hr. I'm sure no one wants a 25 year old kid who hasn't seen the inside of a court room defending them, but it seems fairly lucrative.ggocat wrote:Solo practice.
I like the solo idea myself. Criminal defense however, I would want even 3-6 months hands-on experience with before going out on my own.
Immigration and family law are RELATIVELY straightforward to me because I deal with them often already. However these areas are not familiar to regular 20-somethings who have never been married, divorced, or an immigrant...so it's too foreign for them to contemplate.
I know people and I do lots of research. I am most familiar with Florida's family law though...and the immigration connects I have are in Florida and Georgia. So going to school in either of those two places, solo I feel is a viable option for me.
If i went to, say, Colorado, i'd have to work for a firm first because connects there are nonexistent at this point.
If you want to go solo straight out, get mentors who can tell you what you should be doing while in law school, and can help you/be a resource for unusual scenarios when you get out, pass the bar, and set up shop.
If you work out of home, meet clients at the courthouse or over lunch...somewhere where you can look and act professional so they will take you serious.
Lots more bytes of info on solosez. There is also a harvard grad that went solo straight out, if I find where I wrote down his name I can send his site to you so you can contact him to find out how it worked out for him.
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
In truth, a friend told me that I should not overlook criminal defense just cause I think the criminals won't have money...they might not have legal income so they qualify for a public defender but plenty of the drug dealers and such do have money stashed somewhere.
And i read a solo who basically operates out of his house who says he is always meeting clients at the jail they are locked up in or the courthouse. So he really has no need of an office.
I would like some defense experience somewhere...for deportation defense purposes. Or maybe just shadow someone doing deportation defense while in school.
I have to plan that one out more after I know where and where I get accepted this fall.
And i read a solo who basically operates out of his house who says he is always meeting clients at the jail they are locked up in or the courthouse. So he really has no need of an office.
I would like some defense experience somewhere...for deportation defense purposes. Or maybe just shadow someone doing deportation defense while in school.
I have to plan that one out more after I know where and where I get accepted this fall.
- legalease9
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
This. Also, Law school doesn't really prepare you to run a firm (or even to practice law effectively in any capacity). Law school is limited to teaching law as an academic discipline. Save for the exceptionally adept entrepreneur, you need some years of legal experience to learn how to practice law. And even if you are great at business, without legal experience and on your own, the chances of you messing up and getting your client screwed/getting yourself disbarred skyrocket.traehekat wrote:I'll be honest I don't know much at all regarding solo practice, but I feel like it is probably like opening any other kind of business - there is a decent amount of investment and risk involved and results will vary widely.RPK34 wrote:What's the deal with solo practice anyways? I know a few who don't even seem that prominent who bill around 200/hr. I'm sure no one wants a 25 year old kid who hasn't seen the inside of a court room defending them, but it seems fairly lucrative.ggocat wrote:Solo practice.
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
Are you looking to become some kind of scumbag?legalized wrote:In truth, a friend told me that I should not overlook criminal defense just cause I think the criminals won't have money...they might not have legal income so they qualify for a public defender but plenty of the drug dealers and such do have money stashed somewhere.
And i read a solo who basically operates out of his house who says he is always meeting clients at the jail they are locked up in or the courthouse. So he really has no need of an office.
I would like some defense experience somewhere...for deportation defense purposes. Or maybe just shadow someone doing deportation defense while in school.
I have to plan that one out more after I know where and where I get accepted this fall.
- los blancos
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
hahahahahahaAllBusiness wrote:Are you looking to become some kind of scumbag?legalized wrote:In truth, a friend told me that I should not overlook criminal defense just cause I think the criminals won't have money...they might not have legal income so they qualify for a public defender but plenty of the drug dealers and such do have money stashed somewhere.
And i read a solo who basically operates out of his house who says he is always meeting clients at the jail they are locked up in or the courthouse. So he really has no need of an office.
I would like some defense experience somewhere...for deportation defense purposes. Or maybe just shadow someone doing deportation defense while in school.
I have to plan that one out more after I know where and where I get accepted this fall.
- Ipsa Dixit
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
Employment law.
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
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Last edited by eldizknee on Sat Jan 29, 2011 2:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- crazycanuck
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
There are jobs everywhere working on constitutional law. You should do that.
- traehekat
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
conlaw is so interesting... *sigh*crazycanuck wrote:There are jobs everywhere working on constitutional law. You should do that.
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
Eighteenth Century Agrarian Business (Law). Let me ask you — are you all concerned about an uprising?
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- Bosque
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
It's funny. The two areas I am most interested in, Con Law and IP, are on the exact opposite of the employment spectrum.crazycanuck wrote:There are jobs everywhere working on constitutional law. You should do that.
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
Well played.procrastinator wrote:Eighteenth Century Agrarian Business (Law). Let me ask you — are you all concerned about an uprising?
- dspit
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
I just saw that episode of Arrested Development.procrastinator wrote:Eighteenth Century Agrarian Business (Law). Let me ask you — are you all concerned about an uprising?
- upfish
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
The SEC has boats?procrastinator wrote:Eighteenth Century Agrarian Business (Law). Let me ask you — are you all concerned about an uprising?
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- SteelReserve
- Posts: 299
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
Solo practice is usually not lucrative regardless of what rate you bill; sure, the fact that some people you know bill $200 an hour sounds great, except many (or most) clients cannot afford that rate and you never end up getting paid. My high school English teacher had that very problem; he had been a divorce attorney and quit because he simply was not getting paid.
Think about it yourself; say you got in trouble; could you possibly afford a $200 an hour lawyer? The majority of people in this country make less than 50k. That's why solo practice does not work.
Think about it yourself; say you got in trouble; could you possibly afford a $200 an hour lawyer? The majority of people in this country make less than 50k. That's why solo practice does not work.
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
If I got into trouble, I'd ensure I found a way to afford it.SteelReserve wrote:Solo practice is usually not lucrative regardless of what rate you bill; sure, the fact that some people you know bill $200 an hour sounds great, except many (or most) clients cannot afford that rate and you never end up getting paid. My high school English teacher had that very problem; he had been a divorce attorney and quit because he simply was not getting paid.
Think about it yourself; say you got in trouble; could you possibly afford a $200 an hour lawyer? The majority of people in this country make less than 50k. That's why solo practice does not work.
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
Her?upfish wrote:The SEC has boats?procrastinator wrote:Eighteenth Century Agrarian Business (Law). Let me ask you — are you all concerned about an uprising?
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Re: What is the most employable area of law?
lmao ouch. What does that have to do with me wanting to learn how to defend people accused of crimes so I can defend people who are being held for possible deportation?AllBusiness wrote:Are you looking to become some kind of scumbag?legalized wrote:In truth, a friend told me that I should not overlook criminal defense just cause I think the criminals won't have money...they might not have legal income so they qualify for a public defender but plenty of the drug dealers and such do have money stashed somewhere.
And i read a solo who basically operates out of his house who says he is always meeting clients at the jail they are locked up in or the courthouse. So he really has no need of an office.
I would like some defense experience somewhere...for deportation defense purposes. Or maybe just shadow someone doing deportation defense while in school.
I have to plan that one out more after I know where and where I get accepted this fall.
The bold is what the person said to me. Not what I said. Notice the friend was telling me not to overlook criminal defense...that part of the sentence should tell you I wasn't interested in it originally because I figured if they had to commit crimes, they didn't have money to afford their life in the first place. According to him, I was wrong.
Seriously? What are you waiting for?
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