Law teachers at the postsecondary level instruct students in legal principles, case analysis, and professional practice. You need a professional degree in law and extensive subject expertise. The work is intellectually demanding and centers on developing the next generation of legal professionals.
Pathly builds you a free, personalized roadmap and helps your counselor champion you along the way.
Law teachers design and deliver courses in constitutional law, contracts, criminal law, and other legal specialties. You prepare lectures, lead discussions, and guide students through complex legal reasoning. Your work includes interpreting legal concepts for learners, staying current with changes in law and policy, and coaching students on professional development. You assess student understanding through exams and written work, and you think creatively about how to make abstract legal principles concrete and relevant to real-world practice.
Core work activities
Career video courtesy of CareerOneStop.
Law Teachers, Postsecondary earn a median of $128,500 a year, based on 2025 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Pay rises with experience, specialty, and location.
The outlook is modest. Employment is projected to grow 2 percent from 2024 to 2034, little or no change for all occupations, with about 2,200 openings a year.
Top skills
Knowledge areas
You must earn a professional degree in law, which represents extensive preparation at the highest level. Beyond the degree itself, you need deep knowledge of law and government, strong communication skills, and the ability to teach others effectively. Most positions require demonstrated expertise in your field of law, often built through legal practice or scholarly work. Your path involves completing rigorous legal education, developing subject mastery, and building a record as both a legal expert and educator.
Becoming a law teacher requires completing professional legal education and building expertise in your chosen area of law. The specific route depends on whether you plan to practice law first or move into teaching earlier, so Pathly can map the law teacher, postsecondary path that fits you with your counselor to map out the timeline and milestones that fit your goals.
You are drawn to working with people, developing others, and making a social impact through education. Law teaching lets you shape how future legal professionals think and practice.
Reading about a career is the easy part. Turning it into a plan is where most students get stuck. Pathly takes you from curious to a clear next step, and gives your counselor the insight to champion you along the way.
Start with a quick quiz and assessments that surface your personality, your EQ, and what really motivates you, so your next steps are built around who you actually are.
Your free AI guide weighs this career against your strengths and goals, and surfaces the colleges, trades, and scholarships that match, so you know if it truly fits before you commit.
Get a personalized, step-by-step plan to reach this career, with the training, coursework, and credentials tracked in one place. Link your school or IEC and your counselor in the loop.
Last updated July 1, 2026.
Data sources. Career details from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Salary and outlook figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2025 wages; 2024–2034 projections), delivered via the CareerOneStop API. Certification, licensing, wage, and outlook data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by USDOL/ETA and the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED).