INFORMATION ABOUT A CAREER IN CHILDREN'S LAW

Ask any two attorneys whose work focuses on children and they will describe very different paths to their careers in children’s law. They will also differ on what decisions they made when and what they wish they had known earlier. One obvious reason for this is that children’s law, or child advocacy, encompasses many diverse legal careers:

• Private law firm practice specializing in family or matrimonial law.
• Representation of children or parents through public defenders’ offices or legal services providers.
• Civil child protection litigation at child welfare agencies or prosecutors’ offices.
• Prosecution of criminal child physical or sexual abuse for district attorneys’ offices.
• Development of public policy or direct representation through non-profit organizations working on children’s issues.
• Academic research and writing on legal issues relating to children or family law.

The possibilities are immense and often overwhelming.

This website will help you navigate all the major and side roads to get you to your final destination, a career in children’s law. It will help you identify your goals, craft the questions you need to ask yourself and others, find the information you need, and make necessary decisions as you reach certain forks in your own road.

The ABA Center on Children and the Law hopes this website will help guide your search for a fulfilling career in children’s law. The site is designed to:

• Illustrate the wide spectrum of possible career paths in child advocacy law.
• Help you identify questions you should be asking about your career plans.
• Help you consider options you may not have identified yet.
• Help you research law schools with child law clinics or funded child advocacy programs.
• Link you to other resources that list specific job openings.
• Help you identify summer fellowships or internships.
• Profile successful attorneys who have found a variety of ways to improve children’s lives through their professional careers.

This site is NOT designed to:

• Help you find a lawyer in a case in which you or someone you know is personally involved. Click here to find a lawyer or if you seek an attorney with expertise in children's law, call toll-free the National Association of Counsel for Children at 1-888-828-6222.
• Help you find a place to volunteer your time. Many local programs in your community may offer such opportunities.
• Serve as a Human Resources site to help you apply for a specific positions.

Good luck in your search for your own career path.