If you want to deal with rights and become a lawyer, do you know which are most lucrative and least stressful law specialties?
We’ve all seen all the classic movies centered around lawyers, and we all know the amount of work it takes to become an attorney. Between getting into and making it through law school and passing the BAR exam, it’s no easy journey, but it definitely pays off in the end. Many lawyers get into the practice because they have a passion to help others, which is probably even more rewarding in the long run. However, having the title of attorney, especially when it comes to some of the most difficult areas of law, also can mean enduring long hours and many nights burning the midnight oil.
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If you’re not only after money and are looking for some of the least stressful law practices, you’re in the right place. When it comes to the easiest fields of law to practice or the easiest type of law to practice, there really aren’t any. Obviously, some areas are less stressful and time-consuming than others, but none of it is “easy.” However, there are some lists of both easiest fields of law to practice and hardest fields of law to practice we compiled a while ago, and you can take a look at it, just to get a whole picture when it comes fields of law.
Not long ago, many people wondered if the number of lawyers would exceed the number of available jobs in the United States, especially during the recession. There are more than a million lawyers in the U.S. right now, and that number is steadily growing. Luckily, as in most fields, the better the economy, the more jobs there are. Right now, some of the most in demand law fields include intellectual property, corporate law, and healthcare law. These can even equate to some of the highest paying law fields depending on where you are working.
If we are talking about most lucrative law specialties, we were guided by the fact that the average annual salary of lawyers in a particular area. For this list, we compared average annual salary using sites like PayScale, LawCrossing, Learn and Google. We also roughly took into account which specialties are considered to be “least stressful” by nature and average work hours.
Let’s dive right in to our list of most lucrative and least stressful law specialties.
10. Family Law
Average annual salary: $61,042
We’ll start out with family law, and as the name entails, it deals with matters of the family when things must be taken to court. A lawyer in this field can specialize in anything from divorce and child custody to adoption and marriage law. The average annual salary is not that big, but it belongs to the fields of law that is not that stressful.
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9. Personal Injury Law
Average annual salary: $73,000
We’ve all seen the low-budget, personal injury law commercials at some point or another. A personal injury lawyer gives legal representation to those who claim to have been hurt in any way by another entity whether it be a person or a company. This area of law is not very stressful because it is based on facts that are more easily provable.
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8. Civil Rights Law
Average annual salary: $82,190
Civil law, the next one on the list of most lucrative and least stressful law specialties is one of the oldest branches of law. Civil Rights Lawyers fight against discrimination and to guarantee equal rights for their clients. This field of law has a large number of experts and from the experience of many is one of the less stressful legal areas.
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7. Real Estate Law
Average annual salary: $90,152
Real Estate is business and with that, you want to ensure everything is conducted fairly. Things like moving objects and property all fall under real estate law. Although it is often a matter of significant sums of money, the level of stress is, as experts say, much less than when it comes to something like criminal law.
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6. Corporate Lawyer
Average annual salary: $98,822
Corporate law that ranks 6th in our list of most lucrative and least stressful law specialties is the part of the law relating to associations. While the average salary changes depending on the company size and the amount of work, this can be a less stressful area if you are working with the right company.
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5. Tax Law
Average annual salary: $99,690
Tax lawyers handle cases dealing with the constitution and regulatory rules regarding taxation. While it doesn’t sound that exciting, the average pay is good and it doesn’t have to consume your life. These lawyers specialize on everything from tax evasion to taxes on income and estates.
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4. Environmental Law
Average annual salary: $112,000
The way things are looking for the environment, we need more environment lawyers these days. These are the folks who protect our lands as well as human health from those who put business and the dollar ahead of life. Not only is it one of the more interesting legal areas that have experienced expansion today, but it is also one of the least stressful.
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3. Patent Law
Average annual salary: $129,500
Patent Law has been a practice in the United States for more than three centuries. If someone invents something, they need a patent to ensure their rights and to make sure their idea is not copied, and that is where patent lawyers come into play. A hefty salary and a lower level of stress are a couple of the reasons why this area of law is sought after by junior lawyers.
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2. IP Law
Average annual salary: $131,728
Technology is a huge part of the world today and Intellectual Property law is growing with the technology sector. With the internet, there are even more reasons for intellectual lawyers who protect different things like technical inventions, designs and copyrights regarding technology.
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1. Medical Law
Average annual salary: $150.881
We’ve reached number one on our list of most lucrative and least stressful law specialties, with medical law. Medicine can be a risky business, especially when something goes wrong, which is why this is a big field for lawyers. They mainly deal with malpractice and criminal law relating to medical treatment and practices.
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