I feel dumb asking this question (like I should have asked it before coming to law school) -- Can anyone recommend good resources to learn about what lawyers do in different fields and organizations -- what the tasks are, what the challenges are, what the downsides are? do you look at blogs? has Columbia subscribed us to stuff?

Or is the answer to line up some informational interviews.

I had hoped to get some notion of "what lawyers do" from my summer job, but it's a tiny advocacy joint with two lawyers doing non-legal stuff ... and they're not very talkative, either.

-- AndrewGradman - 24 Jul 2008

There's a book entitled The Official Guide to Legal Specialties: An Insider's Guide to Every Major Practice Area, by Lisa Abrams (sponsored by The National Association for Law Placement), copyright 2000 by The BarBri? Group. I'm not sure if there is an updated edition, but I am sure there are more books out there like this one. This might be a good place to start.

-- BarbPitman - 25 Jul 2008