12 Steps to Become a Veterinary Law Specialist

Law specialists come in all fields. One field that is gaining more and more law specialists every day is that of veterinary medicine. With all of the recent pet-food related lawsuits, not to mention the malpractice suits brought against vets, it's no surprise that law veterinary specialists are increasing in numbers every day. This career is a lucrative one to any person who wants to do work on behalf of animals and pet owners, or any one who simply wants to specialize in a specific type of law. Regardless, you'll learn what it takes to become a law veterinary specialist here.

What You'll Need:

An undergraduate degree in pre-med or pre-veterinary

A doctorate in veterinary medicine

A jurisdoctorate in law

Experience in law

Experience in veterinary medicine

The Steps to become a Veterinary Law Specialist

1. Apply to local universities that offer an undergraduate program in either medicine or pre-veterinary medicine. This is the background you'll need for both the doctorate in veterinary medicine and the jurisdoctorate in law. It's important to apply to only those universities that are accredited and will give you solid prep for medical and grad school.

2. Choose a university and enroll in classes. Be sure to apply for financial aid so that you'll get as much of the cost taken care of by government loans, grants and scholarships as possible, as this will help you to avoid unnecessary debt.

3. Attend classes regularly and give it your best effort. Pre-med is a very difficult major, so you'll need to devote lots of time to studying for every class--even the general ed classes may prove a challenge depending on what your strengths and weaknesses are.

4. Graduate from the university with a high enough G.P.A. (higher than 3.4) and apply to local veterinary medical colleges. If your university has a graduate program, you might consider sticking with them as admission to the same university will usually be a lot easier. If not, just do your research and pick the best vet university for you.

5. Choose your university. Vet school will be very challenging, but as long as you work hard at it, you'll be able to graduate with the good grades necessary to become a successful veterinarian.

6. Apply for any internships offered by your vet school. More than likely, you'll get to intern with a local vet as part of the degree requirements, and this will give you valuable experience--perhaps even a full-time job at a veterinarian clinic afterwards.

7. Graduate from veterinary school with your doctorate in veterinary medicine and get state certifications. Just like in human medicine, you will need certifications to prove your ability to practice on animals. Get the certification as soon as you can.

8. Apply to work as a vet doctor in any of your local vets (if you do not already have a position lined up from interning) and work for a year as a vet doctor. This will give you a lot of experience which will be useful when you start practicing law.

9. Take the GMAT and apply to law schools. You may consider continuing to work as a vet doctor during this time, but be advised that it will get a lot tougher once you're in law school.

10. Choose a law school and enroll. A solid background in philosophy and political science is really required in order to do well in law school, so if you're weak in these areas, don't be afraid to get some tutoring.

11. Graduate from law school with your jurisdoctorate, obtain certifications and apply to law firms in your area or in bigger cities such as New York and Los Angeles. If you've interned at any law firms and they've offered you a job, this part of the process will be easy.

12. Work for your law firm and make sure to take on any cases that pertain to animals or veterinary medicine. For instance, you might consider representing local veterinarians that have been sued, or perhaps corporations if your firm does that. But regardless of who you represent, make sure to get the word out that you're experienced with veterinary medicine and that will allow you to become a law veterinary specialist.