Pre-Law Information
Why Study Law?
A legal education ("law school") is ordinarily a three-year full-time course of study beyond the B.A. or B.S., culminating in the award of a special degree specifically in law (today usually called a J.D., an abbreviation of the Latin phrase juris doctor).
College graduates may take up the study of law with one or more of many possible career goals in mind. Some enter law school so that they may eventually practice law. (However, students should be aware that in the United States the supply of new law graduates currently exceeds the demand for practicing lawyers, and probably will for several years to come.) Some, on the other hand, have no intention of ever practicing law, but expect legal knowledge and the ability to make legal analysis to be an extremely valuable adjunct to business careers or entrepreneurial activities.
Others view law school as a means of securing employment in public interest law firms, in legal aid societies, or as government employees on the national, state, or local level. Some law school graduates view their training as a natural avenue for access to elected or appointed political careers. Whatever the motivation or career goal, many students find the study of law to be challenging, exciting, and an excellent intellectual discipline.
IUN graduates have gone on to many law schools, including those of Indiana University (both the Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses); Valparaiso University; and, in Illinois, DePaul; IIT-Chicago Kent; John Marshall; Northwestern; and the University of Chicago.
