A lawyer’s job is to give advice and stand in court as an advocate for their client. A lawyer may represent a client in either civil or criminal court, or they may assist in the creation of a will, depending on their area of expertise and the sort of law they practise. Juan Santamaria, a staff attorney with the non-profit Lone Star Legal Aid in Houston who focuses on landlord-tenant matters, says, “There’s a reason why attorneys are frequently called counsel; that’s essentially what our job is, to counsel.” We don’t go to court only to bicker and fight with one other. Our sole purpose is to help our customers accomplish something and advise them on the best way to do it. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while some lawyers work for public interest groups or for governments at the federal, state, or municipal levels, the vast majority work in private or in-house legal departments of businesses.
To What End Should One Study for Admission to the Bar?
Following their undergraduate studies, prospective attorneys in the United States are required to complete the Juris Doctor (J.D.) programme. This can be accomplished by spending four years earning a bachelor’s degree, followed by three years earning a law degree (or four years if the student chooses to attend law school part-time). In order to enter a law school, prospective students must first demonstrate their readiness by scoring well on an examination. This might be either the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the Law School Admission Test (LSAT).
It is important for students to keep track of which exams they need to prepare for when they narrow down their options. It’s also a good idea to see if the 199 law schools recognised by the American Bar Association provide the courses they’re looking for. As soon as they graduate from law school, aspiring lawyers are subjected to the arduous and multi-day bar examination required by each jurisdiction in which they hope to eventually work. Every state has its own requirements for becoming a licenced attorney, however, those states that participate in the “reciprocity” programme allow licenced attorneys in good standing to apply to practice in those states without having to retake the bar test.
After earning their licences, lawyers may be subject to further education obligations. According to Santamaria, in Texas, this entails 15 hours of annual CE, 3 of which must be in the area of ethics.
Job Opportunities in the Law in the United States
Recent estimates place the total income generated by the legal services business in the United States at over $256 billion in 2013; this staggering sum reflects the ever-increasing need for legal counsel in the country. The current crop of would-be attorneys appears to be propelled by ambition and the variety of career paths a law degree might open up for them. Remember that an LLM (Master of Laws) degree is not a replacement for the 3-year JD when applying for long-term legal positions in the United States, but that it would greatly improve your resume and maybe help you reach the legal profession of your dreams.
The majority of law students do look at legal careers within the United States, whether it be in law firms, multinational corporations, or the judicial system, even if you are considering doing an LLM or JD in the United States to pursue a career in academia or to enhance your chances of joining an international organisation. It’s crucial that you have a clear idea of your options from the outset of your legal education, whichever path you ultimately choose to pursue. A good place to start would be researching typical salary ranges for attorneys or reviewing the most common types of legal employment.
Defence attorneys, government counsels, business counsels (sometimes known as in-house counsels), and legal assistance attorneys are only some of the most well-known types of lawyers. Environmental lawyers, tax lawyers, intellectual property lawyers, family lawyers, securities lawyers, etc., are just a few examples of the many possible areas of expertise for attorneys. Outside of these areas, attorneys often think of working as mediators, conciliators, or arbitrators. If qualified, they might work as judges or hearing officers, enforcing the law through administrative oversight of the judicial system.