Top Law Schools

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?

Solo practice doing crim defense (particularly if your state does appointments), family, estate, consumer bankruptcy, debt collection, etc.

Health and IP (more so patent than trademark and copyright) are said to be booming right now.

ggocat wrote:Solo practice.

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.

RPK34 wrote:

ggocat wrote:Solo practice.

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.

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.

traehekat wrote:

RPK34 wrote:

ggocat wrote:Solo practice.

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.

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.

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.

Too drastic?

tax law

RPK34 wrote:

ggocat wrote:Solo practice.

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.

Google solosez and contact the lawyers there to find out.

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.

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.

traehekat wrote:

RPK34 wrote:

ggocat wrote:Solo practice.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Are you looking to become some kind of scumbag?

AllBusiness wrote:

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.

Are you looking to become some kind of scumbag?

hahahahahaha

Employment law.

.

There are jobs everywhere working on constitutional law. You should do that.

crazycanuck wrote:There are jobs everywhere working on constitutional law. You should do that.

conlaw is so interesting... *sigh*

Eighteenth Century Agrarian Business (Law). Let me ask you — are you all concerned about an uprising?

crazycanuck wrote:There are jobs everywhere working on constitutional law. You should do that.

It's funny. The two areas I am most interested in, Con Law and IP, are on the exact opposite of the employment spectrum.

procrastinator wrote:Eighteenth Century Agrarian Business (Law). Let me ask you — are you all concerned about an uprising?

Well played.

procrastinator wrote:Eighteenth Century Agrarian Business (Law). Let me ask you — are you all concerned about an uprising?

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?

The SEC has boats?

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.

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.

If I got into trouble, I'd ensure I found a way to afford it.

upfish wrote:

procrastinator wrote:Eighteenth Century Agrarian Business (Law). Let me ask you — are you all concerned about an uprising?

The SEC has boats?

Her?

AllBusiness wrote:

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.

Are you looking to become some kind of scumbag?

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?

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.