Best Undergraduate Majors for Future Family Lawyers: Preparing for Law School the Right Way

Your undergraduate major is actually the least important part of your law school application, but it is the most important part of your future career longevity. This is a controversial truth that many advisors won’t tell you. They want you to stay in the “Pre-Law” track because it makes their statistics look neat and tidy. It shouldn’t. Everyone have their own unique path to the courtroom. You need to find the one that builds the right muscles before you ever step foot in a law school library.

Choosing the right path

Major decisions. You have to think about what you actually want to do every day. Most students pick political science because they think it is the only road. It isn’t. You need a degree that teaches you how to think, not just what to think. Advance planning for the future is the only way to ensure you don’t burn out by thirty. Oh boy, it happens fast!

The psychology of it

Human behavior. Family law is basically social work with a law degree and much more expensive shoes. You are dealing with people at their absolute worst during their most private failures. It’s heavy. (Actually, my neighbor’s dog is currently barking at a mailbox, which is less stressful than a custody hearing). Good grief! You need to understand why people act the way they do when they are terrified. It helps.

Writing like a pro

English or Philosophy. These majors force you to dismantle a complex sentence and put it back together again. You will spend eighty percent of your career writing long, technical motions that a judge might only skim. Get used to it. If you can analyse a Victorian novel, you can certainly analyse a messy prenuptial agreement. It requires a level of focus that most people simply do not possess today. Stay sharp.

Wait, where was I? Oh, right, the importance of clear communication in your past history of academics. You don’t want to be caught with your pants down in front of a judge because your brief was a grammatical disaster. That is a colloquial idiom for being unprepared, obviously. You must be precise.

Money and the math

Economics or Finance. Family law involves a shocking amount of spreadsheets, tax returns, and hidden bank accounts. You need to know how to track where the money actually went during a twenty-year marriage. Money talks. Divorce is often just a high-stakes accounting project with more crying and significantly less professional decorum. You have to be able to spot a hidden offshore account from a mile away. Numbers matter.

Why sociology helps

The bigger picture. Societies are built on the family unit, so understanding those structures is quite helpful in the long run. It gives you a perspective that a purely legal education often misses entirely. Truly vital. Knowing the true facts of how different cultures approach marriage and child-rearing will make you a much better advocate. It allows you to see the “why” behind the “what” in every single case you take. Good stuff.

Research and history

Digging deep. You need to be able to sift through archives and old records without losing your sanity. Law is built on precedent, which is basically just a fancy word for history with higher stakes. Dig deep. If you enjoy uncovering the truth through dusty documents, you will excel in the discovery phase of litigation. It is a slog. But for the right person, it is a very rewarding way to spend a Tuesday afternoon. Don’t quit.

~~Political science is the only way to get in.~~

Selecting a major shouldn’t feel like you are signing a death warrant for your social life. You should pick something that you actually enjoy studying for four years. If you hate your major, your GPA will suffer, and that is the one thing law schools actually care about. They want high numbers. They want people who can survive the LSAT, bar exams, and the general misery of 1L year. Be that person.

Note: Check the GPA requirements for your target schools early!

The reality is that your degree is just a tool. It is a wrench in your toolbox that you will use to fix – or sometimes dismantle – the lives of the people who hire you. You need the right tool for the specific job of family law. Whether that is Psychology, Sociology, and Philosophy or History, English and Math, the choice is yours. Just make sure you can explain why you chose it when you finally sit down for your admissions interview. You’ll do fine.