If you've been interested in studying law and thinking about a specialization, contract law might be an area of interest worth looking into.
For anyone thinking about contract law, let's see how you can become a contract attorney, what you need to study, where the best programs are, and the reasons it's worth becoming one in the first place!
Reasons to Work in Contract Law
As you can imagine, most of the reasons to work in contract law overlap with the reasons for becoming an attorney. Rather than go through all of them, we're going to just look at the reasons that are specific to commercial and contract law (and a few other types of attorney) rather than the benefits that all attorneys can enjoy.
Flexibility
Unlike certain types of attorneys, contract law does give you the option to enjoy a lot more freedom and flexibility. Other types of attorneys working in law firms can end up having to work set hours plus a lot of overtime.
For certain lines of commercial and contract law, there are often options to work flexible hours as long as you get the work done.
This is particularly useful for attorneys with other commitments or those looking to maintain a healthier work-life balance than your typical attorney.
Growth
In contract and commercial law, there are also plenty of opportunities for personal and professional growth. If you're the kind of person who loves learning, contract law is something where you never stop learning.
Not only will these learning opportunities satiate your desire to learn, but they'll also help you to further your career by working on the essential skills that contract lawyers need.
You can regularly improve their skills in several different legal areas and for each job you do, you'll start making a name for yourself.
Networking
Much like developing your own skills to further your career, working in contract and commercial law will also give you options to grow your professional network.
You'll be able to network while you work as you'll be working with lots of different people and companies, making important professional connections along the way!
Opportunities
You'll have plenty of opportunities for work as contract law is something that pretty much always requires qualified professionals.
As the area is also expected to keep growing in the future, there'll still be opportunities for those who are just starting on their path to working in commercial and contract law.
There are also opportunities all over the country so no matter where you are, you'll be able to find opportunities.
Of course, you don't have to stay put. If you want to head elsewhere for opportunities, working with contracts and commercial law can take you all over the country.
Regular Income
Most importantly for many, working with commercial and contract law is a way to make a regular income, which is what you want after you've spent all that time and money on studying to become an attorney.
How Do You Work in Contract Law?
We've explained some of the benefits of working in contract law, but how do you actually become one?
There are a few prerequisites to working in commercial law before you can even start looking for work.
Bachelor's Degree
One of the first things that any aspiring law attorney will have to do is get a bachelor's degree. Don't worry if you've already started your degree, though, as you can pretty much study anything as part of your undergraduate degree and still become an attorney.
That said, some majors are better than others for teaching you the skills and knowledge that will help you further down the line, but you can still study whatever you want as the American Bar Association (ABA) doesn't have any majors as a requirement for law school.
LSAT
Once you have your bachelor's degree, you can start moving toward studying law. Before you can study at law school, you'll need to pass the Law School Admission Test (LSAT).
It should be noted that the very best law schools require an excellent score on the LSAT so it's not just a case of passing the LSAT and being allowed into any law school.
That said, some schools accept the GRE instead of the LSAT. In either case, it's worthwhile looking into the admissions requirements of the schools where you're interested in studying law.
JD
The Juris Doctor (JD) is the qualification that you'll get at law school. What this means is that you have to complete law school if you want to become an attorney.
It takes an average of 3 years for students to complete law school at an average cost of around $40,000 a year for in-state students.
Basically, law school will likely cost you close to $120,000 before you even consider the cost of living and other expenditures.
That said, financial help is available to certain students so look at your options for funding and scholarships carefully to help you with the cost of law school if you're going to need it.
The Bar
Last but not least is the bar exam. The bar exam is what you have to pass to become a lawyer or attorney in a particular area.
This is quite easily the last and most difficult step to becoming an attorney with the exam usually taking a couple of days and each state having a different exam.
Then, and only then, can you start looking for work in commercial law!
What Majors Are Best for Contract Law?
Let's go back to the beginning of your journey toward becoming an attorney. We mentioned that any major is fine, but that some majors are better than others.
Law is the most obvious major for anyone wanting to become an attorney. You could also major in political science if that's something you'd be more interested in.
Other popular majors for students that go to law school also include:
- Arts and Humanities
- Business
- Economics
- English
- History
- Math
- Philosophy
- Psychology
- Science
The important thing is that you get your bachelor's degree as you'll need it and the LSAT (or perhaps GRE) to get into law school.
Pick a major that you'll enjoy and will also help you once you get to law school.
What Are the Best Programs for Contract Law?
Schools are more than just the program that you want to study, but making sure that there's a good program for contracts/commercial law is still important.
Location, cost, and extra-curricular activities are all also important things to consider when applying, but that's something you'll have to think about yourself as that will vary from person to person.
In terms of schools, these are some of the best law schools for aspiring attorneys.
Columbia University
Columbia University in New York is considered one of the best law schools for contract or commercial law and also one of the very best law schools in the country.
Full-time tuition costs $76,088.
Harvard University
Harvard appears in lists of best schools for pretty much every subject and major so don't be surprised that it features here.
Full-time tuition at Harvard's law school is $68,962.
New York University
NYU is another excellent choice for aspiring attorneys and is similarly priced to the other schools we've seen so far at $73,414.
Stanford University
Now for a school that isn't in the Northeast. Stanford in California has an excellent law school and charges $66,396 for full-time tuition.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley could also be a great choice for anyone interested in studying contracts/commercial law, especially given that it's one of the few schools featured here that charges less than $60,000 a year for in-state full-time tuition.
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is one of the best law schools in the Midwest and arguably also one of the best for contract law.
Tuition at the high-ranking University of Chicago is $72,081.
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
The public University of Michigan-Ann Arbor is another excellent Midwestern law school. The cost of attending UMich is $64,098 for in-state students.
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is another of the private Ivy League schools to feature among the best for contract law in the country.
Tuition costs $70,042 for UPenn law school.
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, is not an Ivy League school but it's often referred to as a Public Ivy.
That said, in-state full-time tuition still costs $66,500.
Yale University
Last but not least (we put these schools in alphabetical order, after all) is Yale University. The Ivy League law school is widely considered the best in the country and the commercial law program is also highly rated.
Tuition is $69,433.
Now you know what you need to study, where you can study it, and why you should become an attorney and specialize in commercial and contract law. Now you just need to look at the best cities to work as a contract lawyer!
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