{"id":1556,"date":"2017-07-06T14:17:43","date_gmt":"2017-07-06T18:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/?page_id=2604"},"modified":"2026-03-02T18:28:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T18:28:47","slug":"criminal-law","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/your-life-career\/career-exploration-professional-development\/for-jd-students\/explore-legal-careers\/practice-areas\/criminal-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Criminal Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Criminal lawyers encompass private criminal defense attorneys and public defenders as well as state, local, and federal prosecutors. Defense attorneys defend individuals, organizations and entities that have been charged with a crime. Prosecutors work with law enforcement officials to investigate, charge, and as needed try cases on behalf of the state. Criminal lawyers handle a diverse spectrum of criminal cases, ranging from domestic violence crimes, sex crimes, violent crimes and drug crimes to driving under the influence (DUI), theft, embezzlement and fraud.<\/p>\n<h2>What to Do If You Are Interested in Criminal Law?<\/h2>\n<h3>Georgetown Law Courses<\/h3>\n<p>Advanced Criminal Procedure<br \/>\nComplex Litigation<br \/>\nExtradition Simulation<br \/>\nNational Security Crisis Law<\/p>\n<h3>Georgetown Law Clinics<\/h3>\n<p>Appellate Litigation Clinic<br \/>\nDomestic Violence Clinic<br \/>\nJuvenile Justice Clinic<br \/>\nCriminal Justice Clinic<br \/>\nCriminal Defense &amp; Prisoner Advocacy Clinic<\/p>\n<h3>Georgetown Centers &#038; Institutes<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/icji\/\">International Criminal Justice Initiative<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/cics\/\">Center for Innovations in Community Safety<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Criminal Law Resources for Career Exploration<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Public Defense\/Prisoner&#8217;s Rights\/Criminal Justice Reform:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>For a comprehensive list of helpful resources and suggested employers, please see the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1BaR8yv__NfD3C6W_QianpjMHShtpxf3hv5WipijiD6M\/edit?usp=sharing\">OPICS Criminal Justice Reform\/Prisoners\u2019 Rights Supplemental Resource List<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.psjd.org\/advice\/criminal-law\">PSJD Careers\/Criminal Law<\/a>\u00a0features extensive resources about public defense work, including NYU&#8217;s <em>Public Defender Career Handbook<\/em> and the <em>Harvard Careers in Indigent Defense Guide<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.law.berkeley.edu\/capitaldefense.htm\">Berkeley Law Capital Defense Internships and Jobs<\/a>\u00a0database includes internship and job opportunities for law students and recent graduates in offices around the country that are engaged in the defense of death row inmates or capitally-charged defendants.<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nlada.org\/Jobs\">National Legal Aid and Defender Association Job Board<\/a>\u00a0includes positions in civil legal services, defender organizations, pro bono and public interest organizations, public interest law firms and academia.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Prosecution\/Progressive Prosecution\/Criminal Justice Reform:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.psjd.org\/advice\/criminal-law\">PSJD Careers\/Criminal Law<\/a> features many resources about prosecutorial careers, including the<em>\u00a0Yale Law Criminal Prosecution Guide<\/em>.<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.naag.org\/\">National Association of Attorneys Generals<\/a>\u00a0site has information about careers in state-level prosecution and links to all U.S. AG offices.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Crim-Hypos.pdf\">Criminal Hypotheticals<\/a>\u00a0is an article explaining the type of hypothetical questions that typically arise in criminal law interviews, and how best to prepare for them.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ndaa.org\/\">National District Attorney&#8217;s Association<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Criminal lawyers encompass private criminal defense attorneys and public defenders as well as state, local, and federal prosecutors. Defense attorneys defend individuals, organizations and entities that have been charged with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"parent":745,"menu_order":28,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":""},"class_list":["post-1556","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"ticketed":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/your-life-career\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/your-life-career\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/your-life-career\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/your-life-career\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/your-life-career\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1556"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/your-life-career\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34417,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/your-life-career\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1556\/revisions\/34417"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/your-life-career\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/your-life-career\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}