1. LAW PRACTICE MANAGEMENT I : AREAS OF LAW

2. I. Explore the area in depth: career guides, law firm & attorney directories, FindLaw, Hieros Gamos
II. Review key resources: Westlaw; Lexis; treatises, nutshells, reporters
Get your feet wet: conferences, list serves, internships, join professional organizations, read legal newspapers & journals
Think about where you want to practice: corporate, small firm, government, public interest

3. 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

5. 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.

6. FINDLAW
--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.

7. HIEROS GAMOS -- free access, similar to FindLaw
-- 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

8. II. REVIEW KEY RESOURCES
-- Lexis
-- Westlaw
-- Nutshells, Treatises, Reporters, Library Research Guides

9. 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.

10. II. REVIEW KEY RESOURCES
√ - Lexis
- Westlaw
- Nutshells, Treatises, Reporters, Library Research Guides

11. 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”

12. II. REVIEW KEY RESOURCES
√ - Lexis
√ - Westlaw
- Nutshells, Treatises, Reporters, Library Research Guides

13. TREATISES, NUTSHELLS, REPORTERS & RESEARCH GUIDES
--The Law Library’s online catalog
--The Law Library’s Treatises& Looseleafs Guide
--Library Research Guides

14. 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

15. CONFERENCES
--Jurist : 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

16. √ --Conferences III. GET YOUR FEET WET --List serves
--Join professional organizations
--Internships (See handout, visit Career Services on the 1st floor)
--Read legal newspapers & journals

17. LEGAL LIST SERVES --Law Lists Info
(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

18. √ --Conferences √ --List serves III. GET YOUR FEET WET
--Join professional organizations
--Internships (See handout, visit Career Services on the 1st floor)
--Read legal newspapers & journals

19. PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
--Massachusetts Bar Association Special Sections; also see the Mass Bar calendar
--Boston Bar Association special sections; calendar lists workshops, meetings, etc.
--Findlaw Good list of legal associations and organizations

20. √ --Join professional 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

21. INTERNSHIPS
--Visit the Law School’s Office of Career Services on the 1st floor for more information
-- See Internship Handout

22. √ --Join professional 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

23. 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).

24. 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 M (reserve) (pgs )