对于想要离开自己的世界比他发现的世界更好的理想主义者，作为民权和/或人权倡导者的职业是极其有益的。如今，在美国国内和国际上，实践民权和人权法的机会千差万别。民权和人权律师可以在私人执业，非营利机构，辩护组织，政府机构，国际机构或其他专门环境中工作。他们可能会因种族，性别，宗教，性取向，年龄或残疾，警察的不当行为，言论自由，种族灭绝或种族清洗，儿童的权利，奴役，剥削弱势群体的国际贩运等问题而遭受歧视问题人口，战争罪行以及《美国宪法》和《联合国世界人权宣言》所规定的其他许多问题。
For the idealist who wants to leave the world a better place than he found it, a career as a civil rights and/or human rights advocate is extremely rewarding. Today there is a wide variety of opportunity to practice civil rights and human rights law, both within the United States and internationally. Civil rights and human rights lawyers may work in private practice, for non-profit institutions, for advocacy organizations, for government agencies, international bodies, or in other specialized environments. They may become involved in problems of discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion, sexual preference, age, or disability, police misconduct, freedom of expression, issues of genocide or ethnic cleansing, children's rights, slavery, international trafficking that exploits vulnerable populations, war crimes, and a myriad of other issues addressed by the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Civil rights and human rights litigation is often highly stressful and frequently enormously frustrating. It seldom leads to great material rewards. It is, however, extremely rewarding. Significant civil rights and human rights cases demand consideration of a complex matrix of political, policy, humanitarian and legal factors. Not only persistence and passion, but also creativity and imagination are required. This work provides an unparalleled opportunity to be of service and to employ one's talents and skills on behalf of clients whose legal needs are not met in the marketplace.