Pre-Law Advising
To practice law, you must attend law school, earn a JD, and pass the state bar exam. However, there are many other jobs that relate to law broadly defined and that do not require a JD. To find out if a law degree would compliment your area of interest, do some career exploration to identify your skills and values.
First step – decide if law is right for you
The UofL Career Development Center has online assessments (the Cards Career Navigator), or you can make an appointment to meet with a career counselor. These assessments can help you choose your career based on your strengths and interests. They can also connect you to internship, shadowing, and part-time employment opportunities so you can get a sense of what different jobs are actually like.
Consider a career in Public Service or Public Affairs
If you are interested in working on policy change broadly applied to a group of individuals, you may want to consider a career in public affairs. Many jobs in this area involve working with the law in some capacity (developing, implementing, or evaluating laws), but not practicing law.
Public Affairs Council – search for public affairs jobs, hiring & career management tips.
UofL School of Urban & Public Affairs – find degree options and opportunities.
Publicservicecareers.org – learn about professional jobs in the public sector.
Planning Your Public Interest Career - sponsored by Harvard Law School
Consider a career in teaching law
If you decide that you want to study and teach aspects of the law but not practice law, consider investigating the Master’s and PhD programs in social sciences or humanities. For a listing of UofL graduate programs, visit the website for the UofL School of Interdisciplinary and Graduate Studies.
Masters of Legal Studies Program
Consider these programs as alternatives to a J.D. or as potential stepping stones to law school.
Read what others have to say about law school
“Understanding Law School: 3 Common Misperceptions" (Achimalbe, Shannon. 2014)
“Are American Law Schools Failing?" (Tamanaha, Brian. 2013)
“The Law School Scam.” The Atlantic" (Campus, Paul. 2014)
“Seven Reasons You Shouldn’t Go to Law School" (Taub, Amanda. 2015)
“Four Charts That Explain Why America Has Too Many Law Schools" (Kitroeff, Natalie. 2015)
Getting started
If you've considered all of your options and interests and are ready to pursue and undergraduate degree that leads to law school, learn more from the following topics:
Sign up for the Pre-Law Student Mailing List
Choosing an Undergraduate Major
