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Resources for researching legal careers
There are a number of published resources for finding out more about different legal careers—so many that it would be impossible to list them all. But here are a few that we’ve found especially helpful: Online resources NALP: The National Association of Legal Career Professionals NALP is...
Legal fields and practice areas
A field or “practice area” of law refers to legal practice relevant to a particular type of law, or, more commonly, a particular industry or business. Most law relates to business, with a handful of exceptions. The largest exception is criminal law – the body of law relating to...
Transactional practice vs. litigation
Some lawyers help bring people together, other help break them apart – that’s the best way to describe the difference between these two largest classes of lawyers. Transactional practice involves researching, preparing and reviewing the documents that bring individuals and companies together: from contracts for large corporate mergers and...
Lawyer-Alumni and Pre-Law Network
A great many UMass Amherst students considering legal careers don’t know any lawyers personally—none in the family, no family friends, really no one to connect with in the field in order to learn more about the profession. A great many lawyers who are alumni of UMass Amherst...
Private practice vs. public service/public interest
Another distinction among lawyers is between those who work in private firms and/or for companies, and those who work for government or in non-profit work. The first type is generally referred to as “private practice” while the second is called “public interest” (or, occasionally, “public service”). Attorneys...
Thinking about law school
Why are you thinking about law school? The most common reasons I hear are some variation of the following: I like to argue. I took Constitutional Law/Legal 250/Civil Liberties/etc. and it was mind-blowing. Law is so fascinating. I want a reliable, interesting job. I want to make...
Firm size: From solo to BigLaw
A lot of attention in the mainstream media (and popular culture) gets focused on lawyers working in large firms (often referred to as “BigLaw”). But the percentage of attorneys working in the largest firms – those with 300 or more attorneys – is around 16% of practicing attorneys. More than half of...