Civil Rights Law

Civil Rights Law

A civil rights attorney primarily protects people from discrimination based on gender, religion, color, and many other protected statuses. He or she may also help protect certain rights outlined in the Bill of Rights such as freedom of speech, but note that this is constitutional law, though these two areas of law often overlap and intertwine. Usually, a lawyer picks a more specific area of focus. For example, a civil rights lawyer could work mainly with the disabled, or fight for women’s rights, or represent LGBTQ+ clients.

There are many civil rights laws to be aware of, from the Civil Rights Act to Title IX and everything in between, and there are also many important cases that set legal precedent. This is an area of law that is focused on past precedent while at the same time evolving with society’s understanding of civil rights.

Civil rights are the rights to be free from unequal treatment due to protected characteristics. Civil rights lawyers deal with situations where individuals are discriminated against. Civil liberties, on the other hand, are basic rights and freedoms that were either explicitly identified in the Bill of Rights or have otherwise been determined by courts in the past couple of centuries. These rights are guaranteed, and when there is a violation of these civil liberties, Constitutional lawyers will step in. For more information, see the section on Constitutional law.

Education and Background:

Take as many classes in civil rights law as you can and join a clinic if your school has one or find a local clinic to volunteer at.

Civil rights law is such a broad area that you should try to narrow it down by taking classes in areas such as disability law or housing discrimination. Try to secure an internship within that sub-area of civil rights law.

With a passion for civil rights or civil liberties, you should consider joining the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). There are over 4 million members nationwide who care about our rights and protecting our freedom.

You may also want to join the NAACP.

The more civil rights organizations you join and volunteer experience you have, the better your network of connections will be and the higher your chance of securing a job in the competitive civil rights law market.

Getting a job:

There are a variety of opportunities in civil rights law. In addition to working for a law firm (large or small and as the only area of focus or just one of many) you could work for a non-profit organization or the government. Within the government, there are many departments that focus on various forms of discrimination. For example, the DOJ Americans with Disabilities division takes care of those who were discriminated against for their disabilities. The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights deals with discrimination in school systems. For more information, read our section about schools and education. The U.S. Department of Labor, Civil Rights Enforcement deals with discrimination in the workplace. Read our section on employment law to see if you like this area.  The FBI even has a civil rights division!

Additionally, if you have a passion to fight for a certain group, you could consider working for a non-profit related to that. For example, if you have an interest in LGBTQ+ rights, you could work for Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Certain jobs within civil rights law are very competitive, but overall there is a wide array of opportunities that exist.

For more information about job opportunities in civil rights law, visit this site.

Average salary:

In 2017, the average salary for a civil rights lawyer was anywhere between $65,000 and $200,000 (Content Team). Working for a government agency yields a much lower salary than private practice.

Would you like this practice area?

You should be passionate about working with a certain group of people or focusing on a particular issue. You should also recognize that a large portion of job opportunities are with the government. As a civil rights attorney, you will have a balance of reading, writing, researching, and speaking, but you must be capable of handling high profile cases; some civil rights cases involve a lot of publicity so you should be able to handle that with ease.

For all the information you are seeking about civil rights law, check out this guide.

Consider whether these articles interest you:

Bias In, Bias Out (Mayson)

“Police, prosecutors, judges, and other criminal justice actors increasingly use algorithmic risk assessment to estimate the likelihood that a person will commit future crime. As many scholars have noted, these algorithms tend to have disparate racial impacts. In response, critics advocate three strategies of resistance: (1) the exclusion of input factors that correlate closely with race; (2) adjustments to algorithmic design to equalize predictions across racial lines; and (3) rejection of algorithmic methods altogether. This Article’s central claim is that these strategies are at best superficial and at worst counterproductive because the source of racial inequality in risk assessment lies neither in the input data, nor in a particular algorithm, nor in algorithmic methodology per se.” Read more

“Religious Freedom” Laws Are Unraveling Civil Rights as We Know It (Guilloud)

“What if firemen decided not to hose down certain buildings or go to certain neighborhoods based on their personal beliefs? What if paramedics could legally choose not to give someone life support because they are trans or using drugs in a way that offends their moral code? These scenarios are possible and protected under new bills that declare individual morality and personal convictions paramount to federal and state regulations, local governance decisions and basic human rights.” Read more

Can algorithms be racist? Trump’s housing department says no (Glantz and Martinez)

“The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is circulating new rules that would make it nearly impossible for banks – or landlords or homeowners insurance companies – to be sued when their algorithms result in people of color being disproportionately denied housing. The rule would overturn 50 years of precedent, upheld by the Supreme Court in 2015, that permit the use of statistical analysis to identify patterns of discrimination.” Read more

Conclusion:

If you are passionate about protecting a certain group, civil rights law might be for you.

Class Action/Mass Torts

In a mass tort or class action, a large group of people with the same complaint of harm by the defendant are the plaintiffs. This helps to cut down on the number of court cases because it consolidates people who have been harmed by the same problem into one lawsuit instead of many. In a mass tort, each of the individuals must prove how the defendant harmed them. In a class action, the plaintiffs are considered a group and have a class representative representing the group as a whole. There are certain criteria required for lawsuits to be considered class actions, and when cases fail to meet those criteria, mass torts often are used instead.

Some lawyers specialize in representing those in a mass tort or class action, which is why this is being listed in this guide. However, these mass tort and class actions still revolve around the subject of other practice areas so you must know what area(s) you want to practice before deciding whether to advertise that you specialize in class actions and mass torts.