What is law school like? Is animal rights law a good field to go into?

I am a college freshman right now and I am trying to decide exactly what I would like to major in! I am very interested in law, especially animal rights and environmental law. Is law school as stressful as I have heard? I was also wondering what kind of lawyer has more of a research based job as opposed to a court room job. And if you are a lawyer, do you enjoy it? Thanks so much for any of your answers!What is law school like? Is animal rights law a good field to go into?
Law school is as stressful as you've heard and more so. It's not a good idea. Go try to find law school admissions message boards, just search on some, I think law school discussion and others out there can give you a good picture of it from other students.



Basically all law jobs are more of a research and write than a court room based job. Most cases never make it to trial and many lawyers never go to court. If you think it's going to be making objections and the like at trial do not go to law school, it's 90% reading and writing, maybe 10% oral argument in court. Same at the appellate level really, you draft briefs and rarely argue orally before the court.



The legal job market is awful, google a search on "Above the Law" and look at the blog with all the major law firms laying off attorneys. The market is flooded with lawyers. So specializing in environmental/animal rights law really closes a lot of doors when few are open to begin with. It's probably not realistic to hope to get a job limited to those areas of law you want to work in, the market just isn't there. Sure there are exceptions to every rule, but that is quite a gamble to make. I think animal rights would be a great field to go into personally, but I just don't think there is a market for it. If you decide to ignore the general advice of not going to law school(you can help animals and the environment in other ways and incur substantially less debt and stress) you could consider being a district attorney, because in those offices you might get to prosecute animal cruelty, but at the same time who knows how often that will come up.



Also, If you think going to law school will make you rich don't even consider going. Just do a google search for average law school salaries and average law school debt. You'll get a harrowing picture. The stories about 6 figure salaries you see in the news only applies to students who attend top tier law schools or finish in the top 20-15% of their classes, and even those top law firms now are laying off associates, some laying off hundreds of associates.



If you don't get into a top law school prepare for a cut-throat legal experience, there are people who will stab you in the back, watch over your shoulder etc. luckily these people do see to be fewer than those who arent out to get to the top at all costs, but the general level of competition is always felt. You see in law school you are graded against everyone else, that's the way the curve is. So, even if all of you know the material like the back of your hand it doesnt matter, one person will have a better answer than another and will get a better grade. Most law schools rank their students on a % basis, with 10% up to the top 50 and then %5 increments on up. I'm at a school ranked by U.S. News as in the ~50 range and the job cut offs for our on campus interview program were roughly top 25%. Only 23% of students go jobs through on campus interviewing, the rest have to hit the ground running and it's not easy in an already tight legal market.



The classes are taught in a Socratic method, where you read cases and the professors ask you questions in class. This is pretty stressful as a 1L(1st year law student) and can lead to embarrassment, it rarely affects your grade but the stress is still there. The class also doesn't really teach you the law, you read cases and try to figure it out. Taking good notes in class and relying soley on those notes is a great way to fail in law school. You have to create outlines that line out what you are learning in class, the good thing is a lot of old outlines exist and you should find them. How prepared you are for class and how well you answer questions in class is meaningless and totally unrelated to grades people get. It's all about how well you outline and study for finals and prepare for the exam.



The Final Exam- You get one shot at your grade in law school, normally in a final that lasts from 3-6 hours. rarely less. Most seem to be int he 3 to 4 hour range. Class will not remotely prepare you for the exam, you'll have to figure out exam hypos on your own and be prepare yourself for the way a law school exam works. It's very stressful and a ton of material.



Law school is work 24/7, if you aren't working on the weekends your 1L you are doing something very very wrong. It is not college in any respect, you can't study the night before an exam and have any hope of a good grade. it's a grind all semester.



If I could do it again I wouldn't do it, or at the very least I'd try as hard as I could do have a higher LSAT and GPA. If you must go to law school destroy your self in college to get a 4.0 and an LSAT in the upper 160's and 170's if you can swing it. the LSAT is the most important part though, study early and hard for it. Get a real major just in case, don't major in political science(like I did). I'd suggest getting a chemical engineer degree, that could help with environmental law anyway andWhat is law school like? Is animal rights law a good field to go into?
Many law schools offer courses in both environmental and animal rights law. Remember in law school you do not have to pick a "major" you may pick a concentration but you do not have to. That being said, if this is your area of interest you should look for schools that offer some of these courses.



Law school is stressful. It is a lot of work. it is also very rewarding. You become a much smarter and more critical person. It forces you to look at all angles before formulating an opinion.



There are many research based jobs. There are even attorneys called "research attorneys". Many large law firms hire them to help staff attorneys conduct research. Also every law library has at least a few research attorneys to help students and faculty.What is law school like? Is animal rights law a good field to go into?
It's awesome. I represent the "citizen accused," meaning that I help people through the criminal justice system. It's an incredible feeling to help someone who is accused get their life back when wrongly accused. It's also nerve-wracking knowing that I hold someone's life and future in my hands. The money is good but I represent people who are facing having their freedom taken from them and that is where I get my satisfaction. I'm not in this for the money but for the feeling that I am truly helping someone and their family.

Law school was tough at first but once I got the hang of it it was a blast. I wanted to be a trial lawyer not a book lawyer but that is my personality.