5 Steps to Becoming a Lawyer

Being a lawyer is a highly desirable job that brings with it a great deal of respect, honour and can command a very handsome salary. Lawyers earn their respect because they play an important role in the fabric of society, representing people to ensure that they are given a fair and legal trial. Becoming a lawyer is not easy and it requires a great deal of intellect, hard work, the ability to work as part of a team, as well as a great memory and a true passion for the law and for justice. I spoke to a good ruined of mine at well known Railroad legal experts Pottroff & Karlin to find out what one needs to do in order to become a lawyer. If this is something that you’d like to do in your career, here are 5 steps to becoming  lawyer.

Bachelor’s Degree

In order to be educated in law, you must first attain a Bachelor’s Degree, which will help you to get into a law school. There are no recommended courses which you need to study in order to get into law school but it is widely considered to be a smart choice to take on a course which develops reading, writing, public speaking and research.

Take The LSAT

The LSAT is an exam which you must pass in order to get into the law school of your choice. Once you have the results of your LSATs, you will use it to support your application for law school. This is an exam which is broken down into 5 categories and the majority of it is multiple choice, this is a very difficult exam which can be retaken if you feel that you can do better.

Juris Doctor

The result of your 3 years at law school is your official qualification of Juris Doctor or J.D. During your time in law school you will study constitutional law, property law, legal writing, torts and contracts, once you have finished law school, you can elect a specialisation in law depending on what you are interested in.

Clerkship

The bets next step is to participate in a clerkship with a law firm, either with the idea of looking for employment with them afterwards, or to bolster your experience. You can take these clerkships on during the summer after you graduate or take a year out to do so before taking your final exam.

Pass The Bar

Before practicing law in the United States, you first must pass the state bar examination. Most states require you to complete both an ethics exam and the bar exam itself. It should be noted that if you want to practice law in another state, you may also need to pass the exam in that state as well.

And there you have it, 5 steps may sound easy but it is far from it and you’ll need to get your head down and work hard if you dream of one day becoming a lawyer.