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Area of law

Civil Rights & Civil Liberties

Enforcing equal treatment and protecting individual freedoms.

Find schools with programsAll areas of law

What this area covers

Civil rights lawyers challenge discrimination and unlawful government conduct in areas such as voting, housing, education, policing and employment.

Also called: Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Racial Justice.

Typical legal work

  • Bringing discrimination and misconduct claims
  • Pursuing systemic reform through litigation
  • Advocating before legislatures and agencies

Common subareas

Gender, Sexuality & the LawEquality and rights relating to sex, gender and sexual orientation.

Where lawyers work

  • Nonprofit and advocacy organizations
  • Federal, state and local government
  • Law firms of every size
  • Legal aid and public-interest organizations

A setting is where you work; an area is what the work is about. The same area is practised in very different settings.

Schools with verified programs

A school is listed here only when its own website names a concentration, certificate, clinic, center or field placement in Civil Rights & Civil Liberties or one of its subareas. Schools are in alphabetical order. The list is not a ranking, and a school that is absent may still teach the subject.

31 schools · 2 concentrations and specializations · 35 clinics · 9 centers and institutes

Filter these schools in the directory

Program types counted as evidence: clinics, certificates, concentrations and specializations, centers and institutes, externships and field placements. Joint degrees and advanced degrees are described under Degrees & program types.

Sources

These references informed what the area covers. The description above is PreLaw Advisor’s own and does not reproduce their text.

  1. 1.American Bar Association. Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice (opens in a new tab) Retrieved Sep 2026.
  2. 2.Law School Admission Council. Fields of Law (opens in a new tab) Retrieved Sep 2026.

Description reviewed Sep 2026. Each school program links to the page it was verified against.