<p>I'm a senior in high school (yeah looking ahead quite a bit in time) who is thinking (95% sure) of majoring in sociology. I had been looking at going to law school in the future, but not to become a lawyer. I eventually want to work in some sort of humanitarian-goodness-related job and so I was thinking of going to grad school to study Conflict Resolution Law or something on that same vein.
I hear Pepperdine and Harvard have good programs in this, but I was also thinking Stanford. Any suggestions as to what I should try to focus on, what programs?</p>
<p>And (I digress) how difficult is it to pay for grad school? I know a few people who managed to not pay for gradschool by some means or another of working for the school and the like. Maybe through TA-ing. Comments, suggestions?</p>
<p>edit: by grad school I am referring specifically to law school</p>
<p>law school is expensive. and many people graduate with a lot of debt. which is why many law school graduates, even those who enter law school with no intention of doing so, end up working at private law firms (especially from top law schools where the employment opportunities are great) at least initially. </p>
<p>while it is not uncommon, i believe, for graduate students to earn money by TA-ing and to get discounted tuition, as far as i know this simply isn't the case with law school. there may be opportunities for some school year work, but it won't result in not having to pay. often law students, especially those at top schools, will have the opportunity for high paying summer jobs, but that still won't make that much of a dent in what it will cost.</p>
<p>you are really way too early in your educational career to be worrying about law school though. go to college and study what you think interests you -- do not be surprised if that changes more than once during your college career -- it is very common for college students to change intended majors. that is what college is for -- to explore. </p>
<p>while many people will say that law school is a great background even if you don't intent to practice, the truth is that it is a very expensive route, not to mention a very stressful one as well. personally, i would urge that it is not a route to pursue unless one knows one wants to be a lawyer -- and deciding that involves really getting to understand what a lawyer actually does -- too many people enter law school simply not knowing</p>
<p>Here's a tip: Unless you go to a so-called "top 14" Law school (look to US News for the rankings) or are relatively confident you can graduate in the top 15% of your class at a top 50 law school, don't be expecting a lot of $$$$. You will most likely be paying off those debts for a loooooong time and/or living in poverty for a while.</p>
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I eventually want to work in some sort of humanitarian-goodness-related job
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<p>My suggestion is that you intern, or better yet, work part time, in a few of these humanitarian-goodness related organizations. You may learn that a lot of these types of places are pretty unpleasant places to work. And the pay is often pretty lousy too. </p>
<p>Just so you know, it is possible to get scholarships for law school. My daughter got into 6 law schools, four of which were top 20 and above. She received scholarships to almost every law school to which she applied. She even received one full ride. She is at a very highly ranked law school and her grades have been excellent. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Just to be clear, while there are some merit scholarships available at law school, there are not a tremendous number of them, particularly at top law schools. Generally, there are many fewer merit scholarships available for law school than there are for college.</p>
<p>As has been much discussed in this forum (though it bears repeating here), while student loans are widely available for law students (leading to the tremendous amount of student loans unbelievablem described), eligibility for student loans and need based grants in law school will be based not only upon the student's finances but typically upon the student's parents' finances (at least until that law student is 25/26/27 years old, depending on the law school's particular formula), regardless of whether that law student's parents are actually help to pay for law school.</p>
<p>Working in conflict resolution does not necessarily have a connection with the law. Legal conflicts are only one type; others are more general conflicts and may be dealt with, at the graduate level, by conflict-resolution insttitutes that are more in the polical science field. Penn has one such institution.</p>
<p>It's true, as dadofsam states, that "[w]orking in conflict resolution does not necessarily have a connection with the law." It's also true, however, that there are few areas of law that aren't connected to conflict resolution. I don't really think of conflict resolution as a legal specialty; it's something that virtually all lawyers engage in, directly or indirectly.</p>
<p>Some Law schools do have programs in Conflict Resolution as well as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), Mediation and Negotiation.
Stanford has the Martin D. Gould Center for Conflict Resolution as well as a Negotiation and Mediation Program. I believe "conflict resolution" classes are more commonly called Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). (but I am not positive about that) A few law schools do have certificate programs in ADR where you will be able to work as a mediator in their local court system. I believe Northwestern has that type of program.</p>
<p>As you are in the DC area, George Mason has a BA/BS program in Conflict Analysis and Resolution. And I came across this website while checking out ADR classes at Duke--<a href="http://www.Rotarypeacecenternc.org">www.Rotarypeacecenternc.org</a> (joint program for duke and unc)
Don't know if this info will be helpful, but it definitely gives some info on graduate programs in the field of conflict resolution.</p>
<p>The word "alternative" in the phrase "alternative disputes resolution" means an alternative to a trial. </p>
<p>Where I practice (California), the judges order almost every case to ADR before it can go to trial. That can take the form of mediation (basically a settlement negotiation facilitated by a third party), or an arbitration (which can be binding or nonbinding). The number of cases resolved through ADR is significantly higher than the number of cases that go to trial.</p>
<p>In cases filed in state courses in California, there's a common form of ADR called "judicial arbitration," where the arbitrators are chosen from a panel of volunteer attorneys. In cases where a really large sum of money is at stake, it's more common for the parties to use paid arbitrators of mediators. A very significant percentage of those paid arbitrators or mediators are retired judges. Many of the others are extremely senior attorneys.</p>
<p>Because working as a mediator or arbitrator is more likely to come at the end of a career than the beginning, it probably doesn't make that much sense to make it the focus of a legal education. The traditional preparation for these roles is deaces of law practice.</p>
<p>Greybeard- my husband who has been practicing close to 30 years in NY said the same thing--that most lawyers work as arbitrators/mediators do so at the end of their legal careers. That may be so- but I am seeing a few law schools that are giving their law students a chance to obtain an "ADR Certificate" (for lack of a better term) which will allow them to do arbitrations in the court system. I know Northwestern has the program, I believe GW too and Cornell is going to start something along those lines.<br>
Whether it is really geared to practicing attorneys to allow them to do arbitrations- I am not certain. But from the write-ups on the law school websites, it seems geared to current law students.<br>
Maybe things are changing??</p>
<p>I looked up Cornell's announcement about the program; their references to a "strong outreach component" and a certificate program makes it sound to me like a continuing education program for working professionals. It's not that clear from the announcement, though, and the program isn't being launched until this fall. Stay tuned.</p>