Hot Jobs in Law

Career World, Oct, 2000 by Anne Austin

From cyberlaw to entrepreneurial law--there are many fast growing fields in law today. Find out which areas might appeal to you.

Do you speak easily to all sorts of people? Do you take pride in using language precisely? Do you think logically, stay on top of details, and manage time well? If so, then you have some of the skills necessary to succeed in the legal world.

Of the more than 600,000 lawyers who practice in the United States today, most focus on either litigation or transactions. A litigator is an advocate for her client in a legal proceeding. She interviews witnesses, reviews documents, writes pleadings and briefs (the official documents that tell the client's story and why the law is on his or her side), and argues in front of the judge and jury. A transactional attorney tries to keep his clients out of court. His role is that of an advisor. He puts together the best deal for his client or writes the best contract to achieve what the client wants.

Lawyers get their start with a bachelor's degree and then attend three years of law school. Usually any undergraduate major is good preparation, so long as you build good communication and critical-thinking skills. After graduating from law school, students must pass the bar exam for the state in which they want to practice law. The majority of new lawyers go to work for private law firms. Some lawyers become "in-house" lawyers--they work in business. Still others will use their legal skills to work as public defenders or to lobby lawmakers.

The Latest Trends

Because the law changes to reflect changes in society, there are always new areas in which to work. Here are the hottest trends affecting lawyers.

Cyberlaw

Three years ago, few law firms had Internet practices; now it's a growing specialty that is taught in at least 75 law schools. Lawyers and legislators are scrambling to understand how traditional law applies to new technology. And law firms are looking for new hires who can add computer experience to their legal practice.

Cyberlaw is a term loosely used to describe the various legal issues posed by new computer-based technology. A major concern is personal privacy. The ability of companies to track your Internet use with "cookies" and then sell the data has prompted a number of lawsuits and a probe by the Federal Trade Commission. (A cookie is an invisible file that can be inserted into your browser to track data, such as your shopping preferences, without you even knowing it is there.)

So, our lawmakers must learn how to apply existing telecommunications laws to apply existing telecommunications laws to the Internet. A recent law legalizes computerized signatures to authenticato important document, such as mortgages--a step that may accelerate business transactions on-line, but raises additional concerns about forgery and fraud.

Computers can also be used for crime. Computers can be used as a tool to misuse, steal, or damage other people's computer information. "Data protection" requires lawyers and law enforcement personnel who understand how technology can be misused. This area of the law is stimulating creation of new laws to prosecute hackers or those who deliberately infect computer programs with viruses.

Entrepreneurial Law

No matter how brilliant entrepreneurs may be, they may know little about the law and how to set up a business. High-tech start-ups need the same legal attention as any other new business, such as how to proceed from formation to an Initial Public Offering or IPO, says attorney John T. Allen. An IPO makes company ownership shares generally available to the public. Start-ups also need to know where to get venture financing--investments made by financially sophisticated investors in private companies.

Allen runs a clinic at the Technology Innovation Center in Evanston, Illinois, and helped establish an entrepreneurial law course at Northwestern University Law School. "What's changed," he says, "is the nature of small businesses today. In the old days, you started at the bottom of the corporate ladder and worked your way up. Now, entrepreneurs bypass corporate structure by starting their own businesses, of which they are the bosses."

Intellectual Property

Copyrights, trademarks, and patents are types of intellectual property--valuable assets created by mental effort. Intellectual property lawyers help their clients establish, protect, and profit from the intellectual property they own. Other people cannot use that property without permission from the owner.

The Recording Industry Association of America and Metallica recently sued Napster, claiming that computer users' ability to download music for free violated the owners' copyrights to the music. Copyright protects the original work of authors, musicians, artists, and others from being copied by persons other than the creator or owner. Courts have established that copyright protection extends to software as well, such as Microsoft Windows.

McDonald's golden arches and the words Coca-Cola are examples of trademarks, distinctive "marks" on goods or services that distinguish them from competitors' products. Patents protect new and original products and processes. To become a patent attorney, a lawyer needs an undergraduate degree in computer science, engineering, or one of the sciences, and must also pass the federal patent bar examination.