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| How to become a lawyer |
Do you know what a lawyer does? How to become a lawyer? Are you considering the possibility of going to law school and becoming an attorney? First, you should educate yourself about what lawyers do and determine whether a career in the legal profession is for you.
Lawyers come from various backgrounds. There is no single path that will help you become a better lawyer. More importantly, there are many career paths within the law. For instance, you may want to work for a big law firm that represents banks and corporations, or you may want to work for the government defending people accused of crimes, or you may want to work for individual people who need help with their divorce, drafting a will, or selling their homes. There are many different areas of the law for you to choose from where you can make a difference in people’s lives.
This pamphlet outlines the general requirements for becoming a lawyer. It touches on the aspects of what you need to do as you educate yourself about a career in the law.
What do lawyers do?
Lawyers are advocates, counselors and advisors. They give legal advice or assistance to people who need problems solved or need to prevent a problem from occurring. A lawyer may, among other things:
• advise a parent in a child custody dispute;
• prepare documents and contracts for people buying a new home;
• defend a person in a criminal trial; or
• work for a legal services agency helping impoverished families resolve their legal disputes.
There are many opportunities for you as a lawyer. While some lawyers appear in court daily, there are many more lawyers who advocate for their clients without ever setting foot in a courtroom. Many lawyers work in
government and other law-related fields. It is up to you to expose, go businesses yourself to different aspects of the law and determine what interests you.
What are the requirements for admission to the practice of law?
- You must be at least 18 years old.
- You must receive a law degree from an ABA-accredited law school.
- You must qualify for and pass the Examination.
- You must receive a Certification of Character from the Committee on Character.
- You must pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination or an approved course on ethics.
- You must take the Oath of Admission and sign the attorney’s roll.
How do I prepare for law school?
If you are in high school or already in college and are thinking about becoming a lawyer you probably know that in addition to your college degree, Your fellow law school students will come
you will also need to attend law school. Your fellow law school students will come from various backgrounds and have different life experiences. There are certain skills that will greatly assist you in your law school studies. These skills include:
- writing concisely, clearly and logically;
- the ability to critically analyze a problem;
- being able to articulate your position on a problem and engage in
- debate to support your position;
- developing workable solutions to problems and being able to present them;
- being able to read, analyze and retain large amounts of written material; and learning to work well with many different types of people with different skills.
Discuss with your academic advisor what courses or extra-curricular activities would best assist you in honing the above skills. Taking a part-time job or internship in a law office, prosecutor’s office, public defender’s office, governmental office or courthouse might also be useful in helping you understand what a lawyer does on a daily basis and whether the career is right for you.
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