I know that is a weird question but what I mean is that I really enjoy learning languages. I wish to continue my language learning in college too. I also am considering eventauly going to law school, but I’m wondering if that would make all my language learning attempts useless. It seems to me that lawyers stay within the country and would have little use for a second language. Thoughts? Would learning languages help me in any significant way if I choose the lawyer path?
Law isn’t really a foreign language-friendly career. Maybe you’ll get sent overseas with a law firm, but that’s rare. Maybe you’ll be able to use your language skills to generate clients that speak the same language, but that’s rare, too, and your actual legal work will be in English if you get a US law degree.
If you really want to use your language skills, get an additional law degree in the country where the language is spoken, since then you’ll be able to practice law as a local lawyer. Or just focus on generating clients who speak the same language; that can be useful.
You can find ways to use your language skills in law practice, but it’s not really a career that’s cut out for foreign language skills, largely because you practice law of the jurisdiction where you’re licensed, and you’re often licensed based on where you get your law degree.
^^Disagree. Law is an international business these days. Check out any big law firm and see how many places they have offices. A foreign language, just like knowing computer coding or being able to understand biotech, only adds to your skill set. How much it will help depends on where you go to law school, how well you perform, and where you land a job. It won’t hurt.
If you work in a field like immigration or legal aid, languages can be very helpful (especially Spanish). In big firm settings, I’ve seen a couple firm-wide emails looking for specific language skills, but not very often. Law is jurisdictional, so we don’t travel much.
@AboutTheSame, our experiences may certainly differ. I speak several languages and worked overseas with my law degree. Large law firms have offices in lots of countries, but most lawyers in them are local, not Americans with US JDs. Nearly all firms with far-flung offices that hire people with US JDs are US- or UK-based, too, meaning that their internal language, and the language of the work that they produce, is English. The only sure-fire way to get to work using a foreign language is to work with a local firm (or business) in a foreign country where the local language is used, and that’s rare for a US JD.
Fluency in a foreign language can be very helpful. I stress the word fluency. I have worked on numerous searches in which a language is a huge plus or required. Some of these areas are project finance, international trade and white collar crime/global compliance. The requested languages I am seeing are Portuguese, Spanish, Mandarin, Russian, French and German.
Mandarin. Do you or will you have a technical degree? Engineering + Mandarin is a great combination with a lot of options.
In a quick search I also see postings for lateral positions in Japan for US JDs, native English speakers, with Japanese language skills and experience in finance or real estate.
Are you thinking of majoring in a foreign language in college? If so, that’s a perfectly acceptable major for law school. Add some government and philosophy classes, and you’re good. 
First, foreign language fluency will help you get into law school (being bilingual helps with the LSAT). Pick a language where you can take actual law classes for your year abroad while in college in the US - a great experience and one that’ll come in handy in law school.
Intellectual property law positions, publishing houses, etc, etc, all expect you to know a foreign language (although you may not actually use it). Many international firms function “in English” during meetings for example, but a LOT of deals/communication goes on in the native language, so knowing it will give you a leg up.
An easy one is Portuguese, especially for international trade, import/export (growing Bazilian economy and importance).
French if you have to deal with the European Union or the UN, plus Canada. (You can actually start your law degree in Quebec with only two years of a college called a "cegep, then if you score high you can enter the International Law degree at Sherbrooke, which allows you to practice in Civil Law courts, in Common Law courts in Canada, and to take the bar in the State of New York. Cegeps can be in English but you’d need to bring your French to a high level over those 2 years.)
Note that Portuguese + French is an easy combination because both are romance languages.
Mandarin will require years of dedicated study + years abroad for you to reach fluency, but because it’s so rare to reach a high level it means you will be much sought-after. So, it’s an investment that’ll pay off 6 years from now.
Do you have a data source for that assertion?
IP positions do not care any more than anyone else about knowing a foreign language, and probably less. Neither the USPTO nor ED Tex proceedings occur in anything but English.