LAW PRACTICE
MANAGEMENT I :
AREAS OF LAW
I. Explore the area in depth: career guides, law firm
& attorney directories, FindLaw, Hieros Gamos
II. Review key resources: Westlaw; Lexis; treatises,
nutshells, reporters
III. Get your feet wet: conferences, list serves,
internships, join professional organizations, read
legal newspapers & journals
IV. Think about where you want to practice:
corporate, small firm, government, public interest
I. EXPLORE THE AREA IN DEPTH
-- Manuals and guides will help you learn about
specific areas of law (see handouts) also see the
Law Library’s Lawyering Bibliography
A few noteworthy titles: The Official Guide to
Legal Specialties – An Insider’s Guide to Every
Major Practice Area; The Insider’s Guide to Law
Firms; The Lawyer’s Almanac 2003
-- Law firm and attorney directories (Martindale
Hubbell)
-- FindLaw & Hieros Gamos
MARTINDALE HUBBELL
--can search by practice area as well as many more
searches.
--available via Lexis and martindale.com
--search capabilities are far more powerful on Lexis.
FINDLAW
www.findlaw.com
--this free website provides an alphabetic list of legal
subjects with links to relevant websites.
--also provides an index of other helpful legal indices
--This will be particularly handy when Lexis & Westlaw
passwords are turned off for the summer and after
you graduate.
HIEROS GAMOS
www.hg.org
-- free access, similar to FindLaw
-- select law practice at the top of the page
-- this page contains over 70 primary practice areas
which are further broken down into 130 additional
areas
II. REVIEW KEY RESOURCES
-- Lexis
-- Westlaw
-- Nutshells, Treatises, Reporters, Library Research
Guides
LEXIS
Areas of Law by Topic
-- areas of law arranged alphabetically by topic
-- most have links to cases & court rules, statutes
and legislative materials, administrative
materials, law reviews, treatises & analytical
materials.
II. REVIEW KEY RESOURCES
√-
Lexis
- Westlaw
- Nutshells, Treatises, Reporters, Library Research
Guides
WESTLAW
--select “view database directory” and topical practice
areas
--like Lexis, Westlaw allows you to browse cases &
court rules, statutes and legislative materials,
administrative materials, law reviews, treatises and
other key resources for a particular area of law
--to review current issues in your area enter “topical
highlights” under “select these databases”
II. REVIEW KEY RESOURCES
√-
Lexis
√-
Westlaw
- Nutshells, Treatises, Reporters, Library Research
Guides
TREATISES, NUTSHELLS, REPORTERS
& RESEARCH GUIDES
--The Law Library’s online catalog
--The Law Library’s Treatises& Looseleafs Guide
--Library Research Guides
III. GET YOUR FEET WET
-- Conferences
-- List serves
-- Join professional organizations
-- Internships (See handout, visit Career Services
on the 1st floor)
--Read legal newspapers & journals
CONFERENCES
--Jurist http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/ : select conferences
in the left hand column. (This site also has a hot
topics page that you might find useful.)
--Mass Lawyer’s Weekly Calendar
--Faculty Awareness Bulletin
III. GET YOUR FEET WET
√ --Conferences
--List serves
--Join professional organizations
--Internships (See handout, visit Career
Services on the 1st floor)
--Read legal newspapers & journals
LEGAL LIST SERVES
--Law Lists Info
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/~llou/lawlists/info.ht
ml (sponsored by the University of Chicago Law
School) perform a keyword search for your topic
of interest
--great way to learn about hot topics and issues
pertaining to various areas of law
III. GET YOUR FEET WET
√ --Conferences
√
--List serves
--Join professional organizations
--Internships (See handout, visit Career
Services on the 1st floor)
--Read legal newspapers & journals
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
--Massachusetts Bar Association
http://www.massbar.org/: Special Sections; also
see the Mass Bar calendar
--Boston Bar Association
http://www.bostonbar.org/: special sections;
calendar lists workshops, meetings, etc.
--Findlaw http://www.findlaw.com/06associations/
Good list of legal associations and organizations
III. GET YOUR FEET WET
√ --Conferences
√
--List serves
√
--Join professional organizations
--Internships (See handout, visit Career
Services on the 1st floor)
--Read legal newspapers & journals
INTERNSHIPS
--Visit the Law School’s Office of Career Services
on the 1st floor for more information
-- See Internship Handout
III. GET YOUR FEET WET
√ --Conferences
√
--List serves
√
--Join professional organizations
√
--Internships (See handout, visit Career
Services on the 1st floor)
--Read legal newspapers & journals
READ LEGAL NEWSPAPERS &
JOURNALS
--National Law Journal
--Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (select Suffolk as
your Web-browser and you’ll be able to search this
site from home.)
--Findlaw: list of journals by topic; Special Focus
Student-Edited Law Reviews (Anderson Publishing
Company).
IV. THINK ABOUT WHERE YOU WANT
TO PRACTICE
--Private Practice (small firms; sole practitioners; large
firms
--organizational practice (corporate house counsel;
government)
--Public Interest Law (legal services for the poor;
private associations --non-profits, political or
charitable groups; Pro bono publico)
For more information on this topic, see The Legal Career
Guide: From Law Student to Lawyer, 4th ed., ABA, KF 297
M865 2002 (reserve) (pgs 89-116)