Also called: Innocence Project Attorney, Capital Habeas Attorney, Wrongful Conviction Lawyer
Reopens old criminal cases to free people who were wrongly convicted, using new DNA tests, recanted testimony, and hidden evidence.
These lawyers dig through decades-old trial transcripts, track down witnesses who moved away, and ask labs to test evidence that was never tested. They file habeas petitions arguing a conviction was unconstitutional, sometimes for clients on death row. Wins are rare and slow, but when one comes, a client walks out of prison after 20 years.
Nonprofit and federal defender pay; federal capital habeas units pay the most. Estimate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Professional degree (MD, JD, DVM…), about 8 years after high school. Bachelor's degree, three years of law school (J.D.), and a state bar license; most start in public defense or a clinic.
Ways in: 4-year college, Professional school. Training cost: Over $150k.
Majors to look at: Criminal Justice, Political Science, Forensic Science, History.
Growing about average. Small but growing network of innocence organizations and conviction integrity units (approx.).
Low risk for 10 years. AI speeds up reading huge case files; finding witnesses, new evidence and persuading judges stays human.
Classes: Mock Trial, Government, Biology (for DNA).
Official data: O*NET occupation 23-1011.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.