A legal education is extremely versatile and opens the door to a wide range of professional and impactful opportunities, both within and outside of legal practice. Below are some examples of the varied career opportunities and practice settings for law school graduates and legal professionals.
- Private Practice
- Government
- Judicial Clerks and Court Administration
- Public Interest
- Non-Profit
- In-House
- Legislative Affairs and Politics
- Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement
- Higher Education Administration/Academia
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Law Firm Administration
- Legal Publishing and Journalism
Examples of Fields of Law and Practice Areas
- Administrative Law
- Admiralty (Maritime) Law
- Animal Law
- Bankruptcy Law
- Business and Corporate Law
- Civil Rights
- Communications and Media Law
- Consumer Protection Law
- Criminal Law
- Cybersecurity, Data Protection, and Privacy Law
- Education Law
- Elder Law
- Employment and Labor Law
- Energy Law
- Environmental and Natural Resources Law
- Family and Juvenile Law
- Health Law
- Housing Law/Community Economic Development
- Immigration
- Intellectual Property/Technology Transfer
- International Human Rights Law
- International Law
- Military Law
- National Security Law
- Personal Injury Law
- Municipal Law
- Real Estate Law
- Space Law
- Sports and Entertainment
- Tax Law
- Trusts and Estates
- Zoning and Land Use
Additional Resources
- ABA Profile of the Legal Profession
- LSAC’s information on Types of Law Programs and Fields of Law
- National Association for Law Placement’s Prelaw Portal
- UMBC’s Career Center resources on career exploration
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook
- Law School Transparency’s I am the Law podcast featuring interviews with law school graduates about their jobs
- The CLEO EDGE podcast offers insights into diversity, law school admission, and trailblazers in the legal community
- How I Lawyer podcast with Law Professor Jonah Perlin featuring interviews with lawyers about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it well. You can search by category.
For more information, please contact the Pre-Law Academic Advisor at mtimko@umbc.edu