Law

Most lawyers specialize in either transactional or litigation work. Transactional lawyers do most of their work in offices. Litigators argue cases in court. If you like to work behind the scenes, researching and writing and grappling with difficult legal concepts, then you might prefer transactional work. If you are more outgoing and enjoy standing in front of people and speaking extemporaneously, then you will like litigation. Law comes in many varieties. If you become a lawyer or paralegal or work in a legal job, you will most likely specialize in only a few fields of law. Law firms arrange their practice groups around these legal fields. Some of the most common legal fields in the United States include the following:

Administrative/Regulatory

Administrative law is the body of laws, rules, and regulations created by government agencies to define exactly what those agencies are allowed to do. Agencies are organizations created by statutes to handle particular aspects of government work. U.S. federal agencies include the Central Intelligence Agency, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Labor, National Science Foundation, Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Health and Human Services, and many others. State and local agencies often have similar functions. Agencies make and enforce rules that have the power of law in some cases.

Admiralty and Maritime

Admiralty law, or maritime law, governs ships on the oceans. It includes commerce, navigation, shipping, canals, piers and docks, and even piracy. Attorneys who live in coastal areas near major ports may specialize in admiralty law.

Alternative Dispute Resolution/Arbitration

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is the settling of conflicts by means other than litigation, such as mediation, conciliation, or arbitration. Litigation can be a very slow and inefficient (not to mention expensive) way to solve problems. For that reason, more and more states are encouraging the use of ADR, which can end a conflict much more quickly than if it were brought to trial. Many sales contracts, employment contracts, and international agreements now require people to go through ADR before suing.

Appellate Litigation

Attorneys who specialize in appellate practice spend their time appealing court decisions before appeals courts. Appeals courts consider questions of law, unlike trial courts, which consider only facts. To bring an appeal, an attorney must argue that the lower court made a mistake in the way it applied the law to the facts of a certain case. Appellate practice tends to attract intellectual attorneys whose specialty is exploring the intricacies of the law. If you enjoyed being on the editorial board of a law review or legal journal, you might like appellate work.

Bankruptcy and Restructuring

Bankruptcy is the declaration by an individual or a company that it is unable to pay its debts. Attorneys who specialize in bankruptcy help their clients choose which type of bankruptcy is most appropriate (Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 13 are the most common because they are the types used for individuals and corporations; there are three other less-common types of bankruptcy) and file the cases with the bankruptcy court. They then assist in the sale of their clients’ property, distribute the proceeds to creditors, and arrange for outstanding debts to be discharged.

Civil Law

Civil law actually has two different meanings. In one sense, it is the practice of law that involves private citizens and companies as opposed to criminal law, in which the government brings charges against accused criminals. When attorneys say that they work in civil law, this is often what they mean. Civil law can also refer to a legal system that is based on a code of created laws as opposed to common law, which is derived from court decisions based on specific cases.

Class Action

In a class-action lawsuit, plaintiffs form a group to bring a common claim to court, often when they have suffered the same type of injury from the same cause. Generally the injury is caused by a business or product, such as asbestos. The class of plaintiffs is formed because although each individual plaintiff may find it difficult or impossible to sue a corporation, a large group has a better chance of succeeding. In addition, in many cases the harm done to an individual plaintiff is outweighed by the cost of bringing a lawsuit, but when the injuries done to many people are combined, it makes more sense to file a class-action lawsuit and then divide the resulting compensation, if any, among the plaintiffs. Both plaintiffs’ attorneys and defense attorneys can work with class-action lawsuits. Some plaintiffs’ attorneys specialize in class-action lawsuits, which can be extremely profitable for law firms.

Compliance

Compliance lawyers make sure that their organizations comply with applicable local, state, and federal laws, as well as internal control systems. They have knowledge of risk management, business practices, human resources, and many other areas. Unlike many lawyers who respond to situations that have already happened, compliance lawyers are experts in helping organizations make sure that they follow all applicable laws and contractual obligations to avoid potential issues.

Contracts

Contract law is not exactly its own practice area; contracts appear in almost every area of the law. Still, not every attorney likes to write or read contracts. It is painstaking work that requires great attention to detail, and therefore many firms have attorneys who specialize in writing and reviewing contracts. A contract can constitute the entire legal agreement between parties in a given area, so it is very important that every word be correct and appropriate; otherwise a person might discover too late that he or she has taken on a responsibility he or she did not expect or want.

Constitutional

The U.S. Constitution sets up the structure of the U.S. government and specifies a number of civil liberties and civil rights. Specialists in constitutional law spend hours contemplating the exact meaning and implications of the document when it is applied to daily life, in areas ranging from affirmative action to voting rights to sexual privacy.

Construction

Anyone who wants to create a building or other structure must follow numerous laws that regulate construction. Construction lawyers help builders and their clients through the complicated and lengthy process of designing a project, drafting a contract that avoids liability, handling the dispute resolution if things go wrong, filing mechanics’ liens, researching contractors’ licensing requirements, and dealing with any other aspect of the construction process that requires legal expertise.

Criminal

Criminal law may be a good fit if you want to work with a lot of clients and spend time in court. This type of law deals with crime and maintaining law and order. Criminal lawyers include prosecutors, who bring cases against suspected criminals on behalf of the state; criminal defense lawyers, who defend people who are accused of crimes; and public defenders, who are paid by the state to defend suspected criminals at trial. Defendants are welcome to pay for their own defense if they can afford it, and many hire private defense attorneys.

Data Security, Privacy, and Internet

Cyber law is a fast-growing area that focuses on information technology, the Internet, computers, and digital publications and content. Attorneys in this field handle matters related to intellectual property, privacy, freedom of speech, and other issues arising with the growth of the Internet. Corporations (especially in the health care, financial services, telecommunications, and retail sectors) are the largest employers of cyber lawyers, but there are also opportunities with government agencies, law firms, and nonprofit organizations (especially in health care, academia, and trade and professional associations).

Ediscovery and Document Review

The process of collecting, assessing, and storing information for use during litigation is known as electronic discovery or ediscovery. This information includes e-mails, voicemails, spreadsheets, text and instant messages, call logs, memos, reports, audio and video files, databases, digital photographs, social media posts, Web sites, digital presentations, and data generated or stored by devices connected to the Internet of Things. It is used in litigation and other types of investigations, including civil cases, criminal cases, audits, regulatory investigations, and human resources investigations or similar types of business-related inquiries. Document review is the process of examining the documents presented by the opposing party in a lawsuit in order to find anything that is relevant to the case. In large-scale litigation, the parties may present so many documents that it takes weeks for large teams of lawyers and paralegals to study them all. Some attorneys, paralegals, and law school graduates spend all their time working on projects of this sort. The massive amount of digital data that is now being generated, the automation of some legal processes, and amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (which have extended the rules of discovery to digital information in criminal cases before U.S. district courts and sometimes before) have created a new job, litigation support/ediscovery analyst, that is a combination of paralegal and information technology expert to help attorneys gather, analyze, and store digital data during litigation. Legal staffing agencies specialize in providing contract attorneys, paralegals, and litigation support/ediscovery analyst for document review.

Education and Nonprofit

Education law deals with issues such as student residency, student discipline, special education, governance, the principal and teacher selection and retention process, tuition fraud, and the development of educational policies. Education lawyers work for school districts, other educational agencies, and individuals that are in need of legal advice regarding education-related issues. Nonprofit law governs charities and other nonprofit organizations, such as foundations and nonprofit schools.

Entertainment

Entertainment lawyers work in the entertainment industry, which includes film, television, the Internet, video games, music, radio, theater, visual arts, sports (including e-sports), and publishing. They negotiate contracts and talent agreements, handle trade union issues, arrange for licenses, and help arrange for distribution of products such as films or video games. They handle intellectual property matters such as copyright infringement, trademark applications, and accusations of defamation. Many opportunities in entertainment law are found in New York and Los Angeles, although jobs can be found in large cities throughout the United States.

Environmental

Environmental law is governed by the Environmental Protection Agency and a number of federal statutes that exist to protect the environment from public and private acts that can harm it. These include statutes against pollution of the air and water and statutes protecting endangered species. Environmental lawyers also defend and represent businesses that are facing government action with regard to environmental issues.

Family

Family law encompasses prenuptial agreements, marriage, separation, divorce, division of marital property, the custody and support of children, visitation, adoption, grandparents’ rights, child abuse, and anything else related to the family.

General Corporate Practice

Business law is a wide-ranging specialty. It includes mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, regulatory compliance, bankruptcy, accounting, secured transactions, commercial paper, securities regulation, tax, venture capital, and general deal-making.

Health Care

Health law is the body of laws that regulate the health-care industry. These days the number of legal issues surrounding health insurance is immense. Health law attorneys work for law firms, individuals, government agencies, health-care providers, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and medical equipment manufacturers, and any other organization that needs legal advice relating to health-care laws. Their work may involve Medicare and Medicaid, children’s health, reproductive rights, workers’ compensation laws, denial of coverage, disparities in health care, prescription drug coverage, and a number of other issues.

Immigration

Immigration lawyers work with immigrants and would-be immigrants, filing forms with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, checking visa requirements, and devising reasons for their clients to be allowed to enter the country. They help immigrants with the naturalization process and assist them in their efforts to bring family members to the United States. Immigration law is a major practice area due to the increasing numbers of people who are crossing U.S. borders and seeking protection under the law.

Insurance

Insurance defense attorneys defend insurance companies from claims, including products liability, negligence, medical malpractice, property damage, and others. These professionals spend the majority of their time in litigation.

Intellectual Property

Intellectual property (IP) includes copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade names, and intellectual asset management. IP lawyers handle matters involving the registration of trademarks, protection of software, use of the Internet, copyright infringement, trade secrets, unfair competition, patent trolls (companies or individuals that use patents as weapons to unfairly earn revenue), and the use of brand names and celebrity endorsements. Fast-growing areas in IP include those related to artificial intelligence (especially generative AI), cryptocurrency, and the metaverse.

International

International law relates to the body of rules and regulations that govern daily interactions between nations, both on a governmental and a private level. International affairs are regulated by official agreements between nations (such as conventions and treaties), customary international law that arises out of accepted standard practices between nations, and sometimes general principles of national law. Most nations belong to at least one international organization; the United Nations is the best known of these. All members of an international organization agree at least nominally to follow the same agreements, which can govern trade, travel, dispute resolution, use of shared resources, and other topics that affect all members of the group of nations.

Labor and Employment

Labor and employment law cover all aspects of working life. Workers’ compensation, salaries and wages, discrimination, sexual harassment, hiring and firing, pensions, benefits, unemployment compensation, and workplace safety all fall under the heading of employment law. Workers’ compensation requires employers to compensate employees who are injured or become ill while at work. It also involves compensation for the families of workers who are killed on the job. Injured employees do not have to prove that their employer was at fault or that they were not; they collect compensation regardless. In return, they give up the right to sue their employers for causing their injuries. Lawyers who specialize in workers’ compensation may represent either injured employees who believe that they have not been adequately compensated or employers who do not want to pay workers’ compensation claims. Labor law concentrates on the relationship between labor unions and employers. It focuses on issues such as collective bargaining, membership in labor organizations, and strikes.

Litigation

Litigation is the process of bringing a case to trial. Lawyers who regularly argue cases in court are often called litigators. They spend weeks, months, or even years researching the facts of a case, filing documents with the court, preparing arguments, and arguing cases. Much of their time is spent in the process of discovery, in which they interview witnesses and examine documents in order to determine the facts of a case. Litigators work in many legal specialties.

Malpractice

Medical malpractice attorneys handle cases in which plaintiffs accuse physicians or other health-care professionals of having made mistakes in medical treatment or during medical procedures/therapies. They also represent doctors and other health-care professionals, hospitals, and insurance companies.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions is a branch of corporate law dealing with companies that are purchasing and/or merging with other companies. It also covers companies that are breaking up into smaller companies. Mergers and acquisitions can be extremely complicated, involving billions of dollars and affecting thousands of employees.

Plaintiffs’ Litigation

Plaintiffs’ attorneys specialize in bringing lawsuits on behalf of plaintiffs. They may sue for negligence, products liability, toxic torts, medical malpractice, or a number of other claims.

Products Liability

Products liability law covers the responsibility that a manufacturer has for any damage caused by a product it produces. For example, if an infant carrier/car seat is improperly designed in such a way that the handle sometimes releases without warning (causing injury to babies), the manufacturer can be held liable for any injuries caused by this defect. Plaintiffs’ attorneys bring many products liability lawsuits on behalf of their clients. Some defense firms specialize in defending clients against products liability lawsuits.

Real Estate

Property is a large and complicated field covering the ownership and use of possessions, real property such as land and the buildings on it, and personal property, which includes anything other than land and buildings. The duties of real estate/property lawyers include performing title searches, investigating zoning requirements, and overseeing closings.

Securities and Capital Markets

Securities and exchange lawyers monitor individuals and corporations that are involved in trading (of stocks, bonds, commodities, etc.) and oversee their activities to make sure that they comply with applicable laws. When corporations are involved in takeovers and mergers, securities and exchange lawyers are there to represent the corporations’ interests and fulfill all legal obligations involved in the transaction. Demand is growing for those with legal expertise regarding cryptocurrency, a digital cash system that is increasingly being used as a substitute or complement to traditional currency. Cryptocurrency payments are not processed through a central banking system or trusted third party, but are sent from payer to payee.

Tax

Federal and state tax codes are immensely complicated and change every year. It takes a real expert to keep up with them—an expert in the specialty of tax law. Tax lawyers specialize in making sure their clients pay as little tax as legally possible. They provide tax-related advice to individuals and companies and other organizations.

Torts

Torts are injuries, including physical injuries, damage to property, and mental and emotional injuries. Anyone who is injured in an accident and sues because of it is involved in a tort lawsuit. Torts include trespass, battery, products liability, fraud, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among others. Victims of torts hope to recover damages of money for pain and suffering, lost earnings or earning capacity, and medical expenses. Plaintiffs are usually represented by lawyers who specialize in bringing lawsuits, called plaintiffs’ attorneys; many plaintiffs’ attorneys specialize in personal-injury cases. Anyone who is sued needs an attorney who can defend against a lawsuit, and these attorneys are often found in a defense firm. Many defense firms specialize in insurance defense work, defending against lawsuits at the request of (and with fees paid by) an insurance company.

Toxic Torts

A toxic tort is a personal-injury lawsuit in which the plaintiff claims that he or she has been injured or made ill by exposure to a toxic chemical. Asbestos, pesticides, benzene, lead paint, Agent Orange, radiation, and toxic landfills have all formed the basis of toxic tort lawsuits. Because toxic tort claims are also often class actions, bringing such a claim to court involves a huge expenditure of time, money, and manpower, but the payoffs can be enormous if the plaintiffs are successful.

Transactional Work

Some attorneys rarely, if ever, go to court because they don’t handle cases that involve litigation. These attorneys are called transactional lawyers. Their work is done mostly in an office and may include writing contracts, creating trusts, drafting wills, negotiating with clients, and filing applications with government agencies. Attorneys who specialize in patents and trademarks, tax, trusts and estates, and corporate law are often transactional attorneys.

Trusts and Estates

Trusts and estates, or estate planning, is the field of law concerned with distributing property after death. No one has to write a will; every state has rules of descent and distribution that determine who gets what if someone dies without having prepared a will (such a person is said to have died intestate). But people with a lot of money and property, or those with complicated family situations, often want more specific solutions. They want particular people to get particular things, they want to create trusts to provide for their children, they want their descendants to avoid heavy tax burdens—and that is where estate planning can be very valuable.

White-Collar Crime

White-collar crime is a nonviolent crime such as perjury, computer fraud, identity theft, mail fraud, embezzlement, price fixing, extortion, or securities fraud. White-collar crimes may involve large amounts of money and complicated trails of documents. They can include some types of organized crime. A case involving white-collar crime is different from the stereotypical criminal case, such as murder or assault, because the evidence may be entirely electronic and the harm done may be difficult to identify. Federal and state prosecutors’ offices now have departments that specialize in the prosecution of white-collar crimes. Some criminal defense lawyers specialize in handling these types of cases.