Basically all law jobs are more of a research and write than a court room based job. Most cases never make it to trial and many lawyers never go to court. If you think it's going to be making objections and the like at trial do not go to law school, it's 90% reading and writing, maybe 10% oral argument in court. Same at the appellate level really, you draft briefs and rarely argue orally before the court.

The legal job market is awful, google a search on "Above the Law" and look at the blog with all the major law firms laying off attorneys. The market is flooded with lawyers. So specializing in environmental/animal rights law really closes a lot of doors when few are open to begin with. It's probably not realistic to hope to get a job limited to those areas of law you want to work in, the market just isn't there. Sure there are exceptions to every rule, but that is quite a gamble to make. I think animal rights would be a great field to go into personally, but I just don't think there is a market for it. If you decide to ignore the general advice of not going to law school(you can help animals and the environment in other ways and incur substantially less debt and stress) you could consider being a district attorney, because in those offices you might get to prosecute animal cruelty, but at the same time who knows how often that will come up.

Also, If you think going to law school will make you rich don't even consider going. Just do a google search for average law school salaries and average law school debt. You'll get a harrowing picture. The stories about 6 figure salaries you see in the news only applies to students who attend top tier law schools or finish in the top 20-15% of their classes, and even those top law firms now are laying off associates, some laying off hundreds of associates.

If you don't get into a top law school prepare for a cut-throat legal experience, there are people who will stab you in the back, watch over your shoulder etc. luckily these people do see to be fewer than those who arent out to get to the top at all costs, but the general level of competition is always felt. You see in law school you are graded against everyone else, that's the way the curve is. So, even if all of you know the material like the back of your hand it doesnt matter, one person will have a better answer than another and will get a better grade. Most law schools rank their students on a % basis, with 10% up to the top 50 and then %5 increments on up. I'm at a school ranked by U.S. News as in the ~50 range and the job cut offs for our on campus interview program were roughly top 25%. Only 23% of students go jobs through on campus interviewing, the rest have to hit the ground running and it's not easy in an already tight legal market.

The classes are taught in a Socratic method, where you read cases and the professors ask you questions in class. This is pretty stressful as a 1L(1st year law student) and can lead to embarrassment, it rarely affects your grade but the stress is still there. The class also doesn't really teach you the law, you read cases and try to figure it out. Taking good notes in class and relying soley on those notes is a great way to fail in law school. You have to create outlines that line out what you are learning in class, the good thing is a lot of old outlines exist and you should find them. How prepared you are for class and how well you answer questions in class is meaningless and totally unrelated to grades people get. It's all about how well you outline and study for finals and prepare for the exam.

The Final Exam- You get one shot at your grade in law school, normally in a final that lasts from 3-6 hours. rarely less. Most seem to be int he 3 to 4 hour range. Class will not remotely prepare you for the exam, you'll have to figure out exam hypos on your own and be prepare yourself for the way a law school exam works. It's very stressful and a ton of material.

Law school is work 24/7, if you aren't working on the weekends your 1L you are doing something very very wrong. It is not college in any respect, you can't study the night before an exam and have any hope of a good grade. it's a grind all semester.

If I could do it again I wouldn't do it, or at the very least I'd try as hard as I could do have a higher LSAT and GPA. If you must go to law school destroy your self in college to get a 4.0 and an LSAT in the upper 160's and 170's if you can swing it. the LSAT is the most important part though, study early and hard for it. Get a real major just in case, don't major in political science(like I did). I'd suggest getting a chemical engineer degree, that could help with environmental law anyway and

As a current law student, I agree with what earlier posters said: 1) lawyers are snobs who care about prestige, and 2) law schools of different prestige really are very different. Law is so large and complex that there is no one set of information that you could call "the law." There are so many things to learn and so many ways to learn them that different law schools take wholly divergent approaches. Prestige attracts more qualified candidates, who in turn are able to engage material in different ways. Employers know this and hire those who have attended prestigious law schools, both because the law school admissions process has acted as an initial screening mechanism and because they have a sense that graduates from more prestigious law schools have been challenged by more qualified classmates and professors. That being said, employers probably place too much emphasis on prestige rather than getting to know individual candidates, because as the earlier poster said, a dedicated student can get a great education anywhere.

It should be a factor, but only one of many. You may find a school attractive for other reasons.

I have also pondered at the SAME exact question that you have in my early college years.

The BEST advice I have to you is to keep those grades at 3.5 or higher for a law school to glance at your application. Also, find places that will help you to prepare for the LSAT (the exam you take to get into law school) as soon as your sophmore year in college. Philosophy courses are a Great way to prepare for some of the material found on the LSAT ( & there is room to take these courses under the Criminal Justice major at most colleges)
There are many law schools out there but it is important to evaluate your school for your undergraduate degree. I was told by not 1 but 5 professors that law schools DO look at where you graduated as a factor in determining whether or not you get in. Sad but true. My best advice to you is if you can & are able to transfer to "well-known" college with a great curciculum for your major then DO IT! If you are not able to, make sure that you keep your gpa at the highest level you can. But most importantly, GET INVOLVED! Experience is excellent way to display your skills on paper. It doesn't have to be in the biggest organizations, but even the smaller ones count. College is about getting involved, gaining experience, and learning.
Don't stress about what is ahead of you, just help to prepare for your future by giving it the best you got today.