Congratulations on choosing to attend Law School! You have just taken the first step towards a long-lasting and lucrative career in law. Now, you must select a specific concentration of law to study, also known as a specialization. Just as a medical student must decide whether to pursue cardiology, neurology, or physiology, to name a few, you as a potential law student must select the area of law that most suits your interests.
Truthfully, there are numerous specializations from which to chose. However, for the purpose of this article, we will focus only on the top five most popular specializations: bankruptcy law, employment law, healthcare law, insurance law, and labor law.
Bankruptcy Law
Bankruptcy law allows a legal counsel to construct a plan that will permit a debtor to either temporarily forestall payments or give up his or her belongings to be sold by the creditor. As a bankruptcy attorney, you must be familiar with all the laws regarding bankruptcy, including court processes and bankruptcy eligibility requirements. Although you may choose to specialize in one side of the equation (e.g. just defend creditors or just defend debtors), your best bet would be to prepare to defend both. Whereas in one instance you may work for a poor debtor trying to temporarily curtail his massive debts, in another instance you may work for a creditor trying to force a middle-class individual into bankruptcy so that they can acquire his or her property (e.g. automobile, house, computer, etc.).
Employment Law
Employment law covers all policies and regulations pertaining to employee/employer relationships. It is primarily focused on protecting employees from mistreatment and abuse by their respective employers. Employment law is responsible for maintaining a suitable minimum wage, protecting children from being exploited, and ensuring that employees are adequately paid for overtime hours. In addition, employment law ensures that employees work in a safe environment, that they are not unfairly discriminated, and that they are not wrongfully terminated. As an employment attorney, you will either be defending an employee who is complaining of unfair treatment, or working for a company denying the accusations of an embittered employee.
Healthcare Law
Healthcare law is a massive field composed of all regulations pertaining to healthcare. This includes laws that defend the rights of the sick, protect doctors from malpractice charges, and regulate a physician’s right to writing prescriptions. As a healthcare attorney, you may work for a local/state/federal regulation committee, a private healthcare clinic, an insurance company, a pharmaceutical company, or any individual somehow negatively affected by something related to the medical community. You may, for instance, defend a pharmaceutical company charged with dispensing non-approved prescriptions, or you may defend a client whose surgery at a hospital resulted in an even worse condition.
Insurance Law
Insurance law focuses on allocating financial responsibility for a damaging incidence to a liable party. It is composed of all the regulations and policies inherent to the insurance industry. It is also used for interpreting who must pay if the parties involved lack insurance. Either the victim, the individual who caused the incidence (who may also in fact be the victim), or a third party must endure the financial consequences involved. As an insurance attorney, you will either work for an insurance company denying responsibility for an incidence, or you will work for an individual demanding that a insurance company pay for his or her financial burdens related to the incidence that has occurred.
Labor Law
Labor law is geared towards equalizing the bargaining power between an employer and their employees. In particular, labor law is focused primarily on the relationship between an employer and their respective labor union. It includes the laws that allow employees to unionize, picket, strike, and seek an injunction. As a labor law attorney, you will serve as a middleman between a company and a labor union. It will be your duty to negotiate contracts, file potential lawsuits, and protect either an employer or a union. Typically, each side will have their own attorney. If you work for an employer, for instance, you may negotiate with the union’s attorney for the end of a strike. Whereas if you work for a union, for example, you may negotiate with the employer’s attorney in regards to needs that must be met before a strike can be disbanded.
Conclusion
With society expanding and more laws constantly being formed, the prospect of growth in the legal field is extremely bright. As I mentioned previously, these are merely the top five specializations in law. As time passes, many more specializations may potentially pop up. Before you choose your specialization, make certain you do some thorough research and speak directly to lawyers currently working in the field. Realize also that it is possible to specialize in two or more fields. Don’t spread yourself too thin though. Anyway. I wish you the best of luck and may your career in law be long-lasting and successful!
