Top Law Schools

I know you do not have to make a choice your first year but specialty programs make a huge difference in choosing a school. Most of the schools I have been applying to (I am from the Pacific NW and hope to stay here) have strong Environmental and Natural Resource programs and even though our schools are not that highly ranked overall, Lewis and Clark and U of Oregon both have top ten programs in this specialty. What are the pros and cons for some popular specialties in terms of employment, job satisfaction, etc...?(business, corporate, environmental, patent, criminal, etc...)

IB bird law.

U should first figure out whether you want to do litigation or transactional work. That's probably more important than choosing a specialty as a 1L.

atcushman wrote:I know you do not have to make a choice your first year but specialty programs make a huge difference in choosing a school. Most of the schools I have been applying to (I am from the Pacific NW and hope to stay here) have strong Environmental and Natural Resource programs and even though our schools are not that highly ranked overall, Lewis and Clark and U of Oregon both have top ten programs in this specialty. What are the pros and cons for some popular specialties in terms of employment, job satisfaction, etc...?(business, corporate, environmental, patent, criminal, etc...)

Specialty rankings don't correlate to increased job opportunities in that field.

Don't choose a school based on what you want to specialize on right now. Odds are you have no idea what the law in that specific area is like and what it would be like to practice so by choosing a school based on that you are basically closing many possible doors