What should you major in college to be a lawyer?

This is a great question and one that opens up many opportunities. Consider what type of law you would like to practice first. If you would like to go into intellectual property law, it would be greatly beneficial if you had a science background, whether in biology, chemistry, physics or even engineering. If you are interested in tax law, then, by all means, try accounting and finance classes as well as economics. If your interests are broader, such as corporate law in general, litigation or criminal justice, you can try a social science such as philosophy, political science, history, economics, psychology etc. The key to becoming a successful lawyer would be to learn to think critically and logically. Any major should help you do that. So you don't have to stick with any of these suggestions. If you major in art or music, you can still make a great lawyer.

Hi Edgar!

Law is an interesting field, because there are sooooo many specialties! I encourage you to think about what might attract you, and try to build a knowledge base in that field. For example, let's say you become a corporate lawyer. You would be interested in keeping the company out of trouble (regulatory compliance), protecting the intellectual property of the company (patents and copyrights), and making sure the financial statements are solid. (business/accounting). Among other things.

But, what if you are a personal injury lawyer? Traffic accidents, medical malpractice, etc? Or contracts? Or working for an environmental organization and you need to understand greenhouse gasses? Or cybersecurity issues?

For this reason, law schools are not super-particular about what you major in. They draw from many majors. The important thing is that you challenge yourself academically. Learn how to learn, how to think, how to speak, how to present your opinion, and, how to defend it. A lot of colleges have a pre-law admissions counselor who can help you chart your course. I strongly encourage you to take speech, debate, logic. If possible, moot court is awesome. If there is a class on Latin&Greek vocabulary, that could help. I took an upper level Constitutional law class that was very challenging. And repeating, logic was awesome! Oh, and learn how to write. Get very comfortable with the written word. Law school will teach you a whole new style, but college writing is still important!

Try to get to know your professors outside of class. You will need letters of recommendation from them down the road. . . .

Best of luck!

Kim

Hi Edgar,

Knowing that you want to be a lawyer before you even being your college career puts you a step ahead. I didn't know I wanted to be a lawyer until after I had already graduated from college. You already have the motivation you need so I would argue that it doesn't matter a great deal what you major in (for example, I was a business major). That said, law school and practicing law involves a lot of writing and research. So whatever major you choose, I would suggest taking classes that give you experience in both (English and History classes are great for this).

Whatever major you choose, the best advice I can give is to find a legal internship before applying for law school. It will give you some solid experience and great perspective into what being a lawyer is like. Best of luck!

Hi Edar,

This is a great question. I can tell you from personal experience that it does not really matter what you choose as you major if you want to practice law. I think it is more important to be successful in college--getting good grades, developing good study and work habits--than studying one subject in particular. To this end, I recommend studying something that you really enjoy and working with great professors who will match your passion for the subject.

There are obviously pre-law classes many schools offer, but I studied history at a liberal arts college before going to law school and found that my work and skills as a history major were well-suited in my law classes. I did not need to know about the European enlightenment or to recall anything about any of the ancient Chinese dynasties in law school; however, the research, writing, and critical thinking skills I developed as a history major were paramount to my success.

If you are really passionate about law, I would recommend taking a constitutional law or constitutional history course while you are an undergraduate. As answered above, it might be helpful to study something you will use as a lawyer. For example, if you want to practice tax law (my practice area), it would be advantageous to enroll in some accounting classes. But just so you know, I had no desire to take accounting classes in college and didn't discover my interest in tax until my second year at law school. So again, focus on getting good grades, practice writing and research, and maybe participate in mock trial or a debate (if you think you'd like to do litigation).

Good luck!

You can choose pretty much any major in undergrad to go to law school. You can either major in something you find interesting or government/law, English, or other subject that gives you a solid foundation to research, read, and write a lot in law school. Also think about the industries that interest you for which you'd like to practice law (if you specialize). For example, if you find a sciences field interesting, like computer science, biology, or electrical engineering, you can study that to have a baseline for practicing patent law. If you want to do financial law, it would make sense to understand the finance industry and major in that area.