Skip to Main Content

Civil Litigation Lawyers

Education and Training Requirements

High School

Recommended high school classes include government, history, business, computer science, social studies, psychology, mathematics, and economics. Be sure to take as many English and speech classes as possible, because lawyers must have excellent communication skills. Learning a foreign language will be useful if you plan to work in an area that has a large number of people who do not speak English as a first language.

Postsecondary Education

Before entering law school, many students earn bachelor’s degrees in legal studies or pursue a liberal arts major such as English, history, philosophy, economics, or political science. Others earn business degrees.

Most law schools require that applicants take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), where prospective law students are tested on their critical thinking, writing, and reasoning abilities.

Approximately 200 law schools in the United States are approved by the American Bar Association; others, many of them night schools, are approved by state authorities only. Most of the approved law schools, however, do offer night sessions to accommodate part-time students. Part-time courses of study usually take four years.

Law school training consists of required courses such as legal writing and research, contracts, criminal law, constitutional law, torts, and property. The second and third years may be devoted to specialized courses of interest to the student. The study of cases and decisions is of basic importance to the law student, who will be required to read and study thousands of these cases. A degree of juris doctor (J.D.) or bachelor of laws (LL.B.) is usually granted upon graduation. Some law students considering specialization, research, or teaching may go on to complete further study.

Certification

Some lawyers choose to earn a master of laws (LL.M) degree, an advanced law certification that helps them advance professionally. LL.M programs, which typically last one year, are offered in many areas—such as child and family law, dispute resolution, elder law, general law, and litigation/trial advocacy. A first law degree is required for admission to LL.M programs. Visithttps://www.lsac.org/llm-other-law-program-applicants for more information. Visit https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/accreditation for a list of LL.M specialties and the law schools that offer them.

Other Education or Training

The American Association for Justice provides workshops, online courses, teleseminars, webinars, and other continuing education opportunities to its members. Past workshop topics include Advanced Depositions College, Case Planning Workshop, Ultimate Trial Advocacy College: Art of Persuasion, and Advanced Witness Prep Workshop. The American Bar Association, National Association for Law Placement, National Employment Lawyers Association, and state and local bar associations also offer a variety of continuing education opportunities. Contact these organizations for more information.

Most law firms provide their employees with in-house continuing education opportunities. Some even offer mentorship programs that pair new lawyers with experienced attorneys to help newcomers learn the ropes.