The ABA Journal recently wrote up an article about what practice areas are “thriving” in the legal industry. While all listed might prove to be interesting to the public interest-minded people, below are some key ones:

1.) Prepaid Legal Services – A sort of hidden secret of the legal industry. As the article describes, “Employers sign up for prepaid legal service plans and let employees participate for a small monthly fee. Par­ticipating employees then have a lawyer to call for a variety of problems either free or for a discounted fee, while other matters are not covered.”
2.) Environmental & Energy Law – Much of the environmental work is born out of the Obama Administration’s push to change environmental practices and shift to renewable energies. The article reports that much of the available legal work will be related to logistics (i.e., transportation of energy sources, where to set up new energy systems, etc.)
3.) Consumer Protection – As debt collectors fight to collect money owed, consumer protection lawyers fight to ensure collectors are following the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Consumer Protection practice often booms during economic downturns.