How Becoming a Lawyer Works

“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers,” Dick the Butcher famously declared in Act IV, Scene Two of William Shakespeare's Henry VI. In Shakespeare’s time, being a lawyer was a tough gig and it's the same today. Becoming a lawyer is even tougher. But it's definitely a worthwhile profession. Some would say that attorneys are the engine of the law, and the law is the backbone of our democratic society. Without lawyers, we would have no defenders in our adversarial system of justice, and no one to guide us through the complexities of that system. Lawyers protect the innocent, ensure that ordinary folks get equal and fair chances at trial, defend the rights afforded to us all by the Constitution, assist injured parties to recover compensation or damages and even help immigrants become citizens. Their ranks are growing every day. With so many important duties, and with so many people becoming lawyers, why did Shakespeare give them such a bad rap?

Possibly because the profession is a relentless one. On a

verage, attorneys today work between 50 and 70 hours a week. That’s 10-14 hours a day, Monday through Friday. (Obviously, there's no time left over to read Henry VI.) And if you’re looking for an occupation that rewards hard work with compliments and praise, you might want to look elsewhere. Many clients come to you only when there's a problem to be fixed, which means the client is probably unhappy before you even begin to work on resolving the problem. And sometimes, if you don’t get a favorable settlement, you won't be paid for your time at all.

If the hours, sometimes thankless work and William Shakespeare's words don't scare you, you might just have what it takes. So, how does becoming a lawyer work? Let’s find out.

To Be or Not to Be a Lawyer

There are many noble reasons to become a lawyer, not the least of which is the unique capacity the law has to influence and augment peoples’ lives. More personally, however, the practice of law can be fulfilling if you enjoy meeting deadlines, exploring your intellectual limits, engaging in spirited debate, performing deep analysis and engrossing yourself in interesting research. You should also have a knack for organization, both with your work and with your time, and, of course, a passion for justice, fairness and the law.

Becoming a lawyer takes a rare kind of commitment as well; law school is three years on top of four years of undergraduate work. That’s seven years of paying out tuition before you can even start thinking about collecting a lawyer’s salary. And, depending upon the law school, it’s often more expensive than other advanced degrees. There is a great deal of competition out there for law students (26,500 applicants in fall 2005 alone) and for lawyers (1,104,766 actively practicing lawyers in the United States as of 2005, according to the American Bar Association). It takes tenacity to face those odds.

The first step to becoming a lawyer is to get into law school. To do this, you need a college degree with a relatively high grade point average (GPA). You also need to take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), an entrance exam. After three years of law school, you're required to take another test, the Bar Exam. Passing the Bar licenses you to practice law in the state where you take the exam, and voilá -- you’re a lawyer. Then you have to get a job.

But it’s not like in the movies. Most young associates don’t see the inside of a courtroom for years. Some never get to argue in front of a jury. In fact, most of a lawyer’s time is filled with paperwork, interviews, research, filing and re-filing motions and organizing case files. Unfortunately, no one gets to be Atticus Finch except Gregory Peck.

These are all things that need to be considered carefully when considering law as a career. It isn’t right for everyone, but many people do it and find it a challenging, rewarding profession.

So you really want to be a lawyer -- now it's time to talk schooling.

Schooling
First, study hard in high school so you can go to a good college. When you get to college, choose any major that interests you most and allows you to develop your analytical skills. Law schools accept many majors, and some majors can lead you to a focus during law school. History, for example, may help you in Constitutional Law courses, while a Computer Science or Engineering major is excellent for students who want to focus on Intellectual Property or Internet Law.

Some colleges offer pre-law majors, similar to a pre-med major. However, medical schools have specific course requirements that a pre-med major satisfies, whereas law schools don’t have such requirements. So these pre-law majors aren’t actual majors in the traditional sense, but rather hybrid courses of study that cut across numerous fields. You get a great variety in a pre-law major, but not an area of concentration that can be helpful later in you career.

The important things to take out of your undergraduate studies are communication skills (both oral and written), analytical skills and organizational skills. Any major, if you take the rigorous and demanding courses within it, can enhance these skills. So pick something you have great interest in and excel at it. by Laura Murray and Sam Burritt