Many students enter law school with a passion for a particular issue or set of issues, such as education or civil rights. Others develop a strong interest for a substantive area during law school. Still others find a practice setting or work style that they like and the issues they work on are less important. In any event, public interest work covers a huge range of issue areas, including some that people typically think of as “corporate.”
The following are some issue areas public interest lawyers work in, along with links to relevant guides.
| AIDS/HIV | Environment / Energy (.pdf) | Native American / Tribal Law |
| Animal Issues | Family | Personal Injury / Med Malpractice |
| Arts/Entertainment | Farm / Migrant Workers | Prisoners’ Issues |
| Bankruptcy/Debt | First Amendment | Property / Real Estate |
| Business/Economic Issues | Gun Control | Prosecution (.pdf) |
| Children / Youth (.pdf) | Government Accountability | Public Defense (.pdf) |
| Civil Rights / Liberties (.pdf) | Health / Medical (.pdf) | Racial / Ethnic Justice |
| Communications | Housing / Homelessness | Religious Issues |
| Consumer | Human Rights | Reproductive Rights |
| Criminal Legal System Reform | Immigration / Refugee (.pdf) | Security / Defense / Arms Control |
| Death Penalty | Intellectual Property / Technology | Tax |
| Disability | Juvenile Defense (.pdf) | Trade |
| Domestic Violence | Labor / Employment | Transitional Justice / Democracy |
| Economic Development (.pdf) | Legal Services (.pdf) | Trusts and Estates |
| Education (.pdf) | LGBTQ+ Issues (.pdf) | Voting / Campaign Finance |
| Elders | Municipal Law | Women’s Rights (.pdf) |