Law Careers

Law Career Overview

Lawyers are both advisors and advocates. They may work primarily to provide legal advice and make recommendations to clients, or they might represent individuals or groups in civil or criminal trials. The details of a lawyer’s job vary depending on the field they specialize in, but in every field, their work involves applying society’s laws to each client’s individual case.

Most lawyers work in private practice, and focus on civil or criminal law. Others may be employed by large corporations or government agencies. Wherever they work, a lawyer should have excellent interpersonal skills and communication skills, and excellent problem-detecting, problem-solving and analytical skills.

All lawyers must also spend a considerable amount of time and effort on ensuring their knowledge of law in their particular field remains current. In addition, trial lawyers in particular should be able to think and react on their feet, and have an authoritative public speaking manner.

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Law Career Training & Education

All lawyers, regardless of the type of law they specialize in, must complete seven years of full-time study in college and law school. This course of study involved four years of undergraduate study, followed by a further three years in a law school accredited by the American Bar Association.

All students must obtain a Bachelor’s degree before they may qualify for admission to law school. There is no particular major course of undergraduate study required, but pre-law students will particularly benefit from a multidisciplinary course of study that includes subjects such as English, public speaking, philosophy, history, mathematics, and economics.

Students will also find it beneficial to take courses that relate to the type of law they want to specialize in. For example, a pre-law student interested in Adoption Law might obtain a Social Work undergraduate degree, while a student working towards a career in Criminal Law would benefit from obtaining a degree in Criminal Justice.

Following the completion of law school, all students must be admitted to the bar before obtaining a license to practice law. This involves passing a written examination, and in some states applicants must also sit and pass a written ethics exam.

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Law Career & Salary Outlook

According to US Department of Labor projections, career opportunities in Law are expected to grow at an average rate through to the year 2014. However, employment opportunities will continue to be highly sought-after, and new applicants should expect to face fierce competition for available job openings. Applicants with excellent academic records from superior law schools will have access to the most desirable opportunities.

The average lawyer earns a salary of approximately $95,000, but actual salaries vary widely depending on the type of law specialized in, and the type of company a lawyer works for. Lawyers who operate their own practices typically have lower salaries than lawyers who work as partners in larger law firms, and lawyers who work in Non-profit Law generally have lower earning capacity than most other specialized lawyers.

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Career Fields/Specializations

Adoption Law Career

Adoption Law is a particularly rewarding field of law to work in for anyone interested in both Law and child advocacy. Adoption Lawyers typically represent couples or single people who are trying to adopt a child, but may also represent agencies or individuals who are giving children up for adoption. In addition, Adoption Lawyers may also be involved in mediating other types of adoptions, such as those by step-parents or blood relatives, surrogacy-related adoptions, or international adoptions.

Adoption Lawyers have several roles during the adoption process. They must ensure that all legal requirements of the adoption process are met, including filing of documents with courts. They may also be involved in negotiations between adoptive parents and the birth parents of the child.

Adoption Lawyers must have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, and a strong interest in promoting child welfare and helping families get together and stay together. They should have good problem-detection and problem-solving skills, and good organizational and decision-making skills.

Corporate Law Career

Corporate Lawyers work in private practices, either alone or as part of a large team. Alternatively, they may work for a single corporate client. Wherever they work, their focus is on advising corporate clients on legal issues that relate to corporate matters and business activities. Such issues might include applying for patent rights, compliance with government regulations, negotiating contracts with other corporations or with employees, or interacting with unions.

Corporate Law differ from many other law specialties in that a Corporate Lawyer must have knowledge of a wide variety of different types of law. For example, a Corporate Lawyer may need to know about aspects of contract law, tax law, patent and property rights laws, zoning laws, licensing laws, and other fields.

Corporate Lawyers must have excellent interpersonal skills, and written and verbal communication skills. They must be able to cope with a high-pressure working environment. The corporate world is very fast-paced, and Corporate Lawyers often work very long hours. They must also be able to work very well as a member of a large team, have excellent organizational skills, and be able to meet deadlines consistently.

Criminal Law Career

Criminal Lawyers are involved in either prosecuting or defending people who have been accused of crimes. When a Criminal Lawyer works for the defense, their client is the person accused of committing a crime; when they work for the prosecution, their client is typically the state in which they work.

When Criminal Lawyers work on a case they gather evidence from witnesses, and other types of evidence such as written documents or physical evidence. Often their cases are resolved out of court, but in some situations they may be involved in court trials where they must defend or prosecute a person accused of a crime, trying to prove or disprove their guilt. An important part of their work is researching similar cases, and researching points of law that are relevant to the cases they are involved in.

Criminal Lawyers must have good interpersonal skills, and excellent communication skills. They must be particularly adept at public speaking, and speaking convincingly. They must be well organized, be able to work under pressure, and be able to keep up with current knowledge of relevant laws and amendments. They must also be able to remain impartial, and defend or prosecute an accused person to the best of their ability, regardless of their opinion as to the person’s guilt.

Medical Malpractice Law Career

Medical Malpractice Lawyers work for clients who have been injured due to negligence on the part of a medical professional. Alternatively, they may represent the family of someone who has died as a result of medical negligence. People who suffer from such negligence can lodge a claim for financial compensation, and the Medical Malpractice Lawyer is their legal representative in all matters relating to their claim.

Medical Malpractice Lawyers work on a case by gathering evidence from their client, from healthcare workers, and from documents such as their client’s medical records. They must draw on their knowledge of malpractice law to determine what type of compensation claim their client can make, and then present their claim to the lawyer that represents the defendant. In most cases an out-of-court settlement is reached, but in some situations a Medical Malpractice Lawyer must prove the defendant’s negligence in court.

Medical Malpractice Lawyers should have excellent communication and interpersonal skills. They must be well organized and able to work under pressure to meet deadlines, and be able to keep up with relevant cases, and changes to relevant laws. They must have excellent negotiation skills, and because they must sometimes appear in court to represent their clients, they should have particularly good verbal communication skills, and be able to speak convincingly in public.

Non-Profit Law Career

People who work in Non-Profit Law work for non-profit organizations such as legal aid societies, which provide legal advice and representation for people who cannot afford to hire a lawyer working in private practice. They may also work for non-profit organizations, public interest law firms, legal service offices, and public defenders offices. Non-profit Lawyers most often handle civil cases, rather than criminal cases; however if they work for an agency such as the public defender’s office they may often be involved in criminal cases.

Non-Profit Lawyers should have a strong interest in promoting the welfare of their clients, particularly if they work for special interest groups that provide advocacy services for under-represented groups in society. They should also have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, be well organized and able to work under pressure, and should be capable of working both independently and in a team.

Real Estate Law Career

Real Estate Lawyers are involved in working with real estate transactions of all kinds, including buying and selling, financing, leasing, title management, and land development. They may work for a wide variety of clients, including land and building developers, investors, banks, corporations, or tenants, depending on whether they choose to specialize in residential or commercial Real Estate Law. Lawyers working in Real Estate do not typically represent clients in court trials, but most often work ‘behind the scenes’ in real estate transactions, and provide clients with legal advice in real estate matters.

Real Estate Lawyers use their thorough knowledge of Real Estate Law as a framework for their work, and must therefore ensure they stay current with changes in relevant laws and outcomes of relevant court cases. They should have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, and good organizational and negotiation skills.

Environmental Law Career

Environmental Law is a relatively new specialization, but is one which has grown rapidly over the past two decades. Environmental Lawyers advise and represent their clients on a wide variety of matters, and may be involved in aspects of law relating to air and water pollution, land use, agricultural issues, preservation issues, waste disposal, and use of natural resources.

Environmental Lawyers represent an equally wide variety of clients, from special interest groups, to waste disposal companies or construction firms. They may, for example, help a construction company deal with government bodies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, and assist them in preparing and filing licenses and approval applications. Environmental Lawyers may also work for government agencies at the Federal, State or Municipal level, or may work in-house for a corporation.

Environmental Lawyers must have excellent written and verbal communication skills and interpersonal skills. They should have good problem-detection and problem-solving skills, with an ability to focus on both details and the bigger picture of any case they work on. Environmental Lawyers should also have a strong commitment to working to preserve and protect the environment.

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