Student tips: High school subjects to take if you want to become a lawyer

Becoming a lawyer is something that a lot of people want to do. Whether it is your dream, your mom's dream, or your mother-in-law's dream, becoming a lawyer is a pretty big deal. You have a lot of responsibility, and can directly help your community, and help influence the legal system in the area that you are practicing the law. However, to become a lawyer you need to have a certain base of knowledge, and there are some good classes you might want to take in high school.

The obvious classes that you are going to want to take are law classes, or any basic legal courses that your high school might offer. There are some classes that high schools will offer in this area, but if you can try to take a business law class, or any other class that offers any introduction into the law. For the purposes of gaining knowledge, it should suffice regardless of what kind of law you are learning about even if it isn't technically about the legal process in America.

Politics courses are going to be a good subject to learn about. Participation in Government is a class that I know students were required to take before graduation. If you can take classes about how the government runs, and how the laws are made, and why they are made, you are going to be gaining that base knowledge that you will need, and have the basics for how the heck the legal system runs in the first place.
History courses will be helpful to you as well. Obviously you have to take history courses in high school, but pay attention to any courses that deal with the laws of the civilizations and cultures that you are studying. The history of other law systems often form the basis for what the legal system is today. By learning about how the law was created back through the course of history, you can gain an understanding of how laws are made and can be applied.
Psychology courses should be taken if at all possible. The people that you will defend are going to have significantly different mental states when they go to court. Some will be crazy, some will be desperate, and some will simply refuse to listen to the logical advice you might give. Understanding how people are going to make decisions will go a long way toward understanding people, and advising them better.
Being a lawyer is a good job, but it takes a lot of work. It requires that you know a lot about the law, and everything that has happened in the legal system. You are going to need to know legal precedent, and even a small case from some small court could be the key to winning a case, and you are going to be expected to know those outcomes. However, it pays well, and you can be among the most respected people in society if you do your job well.