Law School And Lawyer Career example essay topic

Loving to argue, speak, and to persuade / convince, I have chosen to research the career of a lawyer. I have always been intrigued by the audacity and wit that lawyers have naturally. I will explain the steps in order to be on the right path in order to become a lawyer. While attaining a degree in your undergraduate studies, you must select a major that will be of some assistance and relevance to your particular law career.

For example, if you want to be a corporate lawyer, you should major in business or if you want to be a judge, you should major in political science. After attaining your degree in your chosen major, you must attend law school. American Law schools are very expensive, especially if you plan to attend a private law school. That being said, there are excellent law schools in the States (Yale, Harvard, NYU, UT Austin, to name a few), and if you want to practice in the States, this is a good way to go about it.

However, the competition to get into the top-rated law schools in the States is ferocious and exceeds by far the competition to get into Canadian law schools. The advice that most people give surrounding applying to US law schools (as there are so many), is to apply to a few 'sure-thing's chools, a few schools were you would probably get in, a few where you would probably not get in, and a few 'reach's chools, where it seems unlikely that you would be admitted. Keep in mind that even a very high GPA and LSAT score can not guarantee you admission to Harvard, Yale and the other top-rated schools. Because there are so many people in the US, there are more people with excellent grades applying, therefore reducing your chances, too. After finally finalizing your arrangements and getting into your chosen law school, you must attend school. Law schools differ in their various requirements: many schools have required courses in all years, and some schools only have required courses in their first or second years.

As well, many schools will require that you take some breadth courses, which are courses that are intended to round out your education. These courses are ones that are outside the canonical law school curriculum. At some point in the course of law school, you will probably have to do a moot, which is like mock court. In the moot, you are given a fact situation and you have to prepare arguments and deliver them before judges (sometimes real judges, sometimes professors and practitioners) as if you were arguing in appellate court. The workload during the school year can vary: there is always a fair bit of reading, which is best to be done ahead of time. There may be some papers throughout the year, and, of course, exams at the end.

It can seem as if everyone is against each other, and you hear stories of people stealing books from the library, although it does happen, it seems as this is more of the exception than the rule. Everyone is in the same boat, and most are willing to help out their peers. The other main problem with law school is, generally, it is graded on a B curve. This means that most people will not get grades as good as they have had for the rest of their lives. This can cause some people to despair, however, it is those who can accept that their grades will fall that are the best off, because then they do not spend sleepless nights worrying about what is likely the inevitable. The most obvious answer to the question why go to law school is: to become a lawyer.

While the majority of law students will go on to practice, there are many different things that one can do with a law degree, and some of them do not involve being a lawyer. Firstly, there are many different types of lawyer, and most people do not know what type of law they will practice until they have had experience in different courses, or even after artic ling. Law Streams. Corporate / Commercial Law.

This is the biggest field of practice. Corporate law involves organizing businesses, mostly contracts, liability, or intellectual property... Tax Law generally involves assisting businesses with their taxes and advising clients and individuals about tax loopholes... Intellectual Property Law is the law of copyrights, trademarks, and patents.

It is a budding area of law what with the Internet and with the increased use of computers and computer software... Family Law involves arranging for people day to day family issues, such as adoption, divorce, and wills... Criminal Law comes in two forms, the Crown Attorney side (prosecution) or defense lawyers, who defend people accused of crimes... Constitutional Law today involves mainly questions concerning individual rights violations under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but may also involve the division of powers between the federal government and the provincial governments. A constitutional lawyer may also work with the government to ensure that laws that are drafted meet the requirements of the Charter... Civil Litigates deals mostly with claims involving wrongdoing: tort law, and contracts...

International Law could mean working with multinational corporations, or working on International issues such as human rights, or with the UN. Many lawyers also become general practitioners, whereby they do a variety of tasks for individual, smaller clients: such as drawing up real estate deals, contracts, as well as family law things... Labor / Employment lawyers can work for the management side or the labor side. Management side labor lawyers will advise their clients (employers) on employment law such as working conditions, wrongful dismissal etc. A labor-side employment / labor lawyer could work with individuals, or unions advising members how to pursue various claims (such as pursuing workers compensation, human rights or labor code violations, or wrongful dismissal suits)... Other types of law that one might practice are: Administrative law, municipal law, real estate law, immigration law, environmental law, and entertainment law.

As is demonstrated above, there are many types of law that one can go into. In addition, there are other, nontraditional legal careers for which a law degree can be useful. This can include working for a non-profit organization or a non-governmental organization, an advocacy group, a community legal clinic or work in the government in policy. In addition, you can go on to do your masters degree in law and teach, or do law-related things like become a law librarian, or a career counselor at a law school. Many people with a law degree either enter into business, as they will have the legal insight, which may serve very helpful.

You also find many lawyers who enter into the political realm. In the majority of cases, most lawyers practice for a while before entering into politics. As for salaries, an entry-level attorney is expected to earn a median base salary of $80,644. Half of the people in this job are expected to earn between $69,404 and $90,111. A typical judge is expected to earn a median base salary of $135,203. Half of the people in this job are expected to earn between $132,620 and $151,307.

Before I researched this career, my expectations were pretty similar to what the job description prescribed. One expectation was that law school would take three years to complete and that it would be really difficult to complete with flying colors. Having done this research has made it even more evident that law school will be very difficult and stressful. It includes a lot of reading, writing, and discussing.

Another expectation was the pay. I knew that lawyers made a sufficient amount of money and that they are able to live very comfortably and to have many of their needs and desires met due to their salaries. Lastly, I expected that finding a major to study in wouldn't be so broad. There are so many different areas of study when you want to become a lawyer.

I really don't know what area of law I would like to study, but I do definitely know that I will be a lawyer. I don't think that becoming a lawyer will make me have to lie or twist stories in order to be successful, so I do not think that my morals and values will be disturbed. As for my classes, I feel that each one has its specific purpose in order to get me prepared for law school. Besides the fact that each of my classes area requirement to graduate, I feel each one is beneficial to me in some way. My Math 100 class is helping me use logic and strategy in order to solve problems and seek answers. My English 100 class is helping me communicate myself through my writing skills, while my Speech 251 class is helping me communicate and organize my thoughts verbally.

Also, my Philosophy 100 class is helping me think critically and very deeply into subjects that I would not have really thought about. Lastly, as for my CAS 100 class, it is helping me study harder and to think harder. It teaches me skills that are helping me adapt better to college life. It helps me stay focused and keep things organized by wrapping things up and reviewing all things that we learned throughout that particular week. In all, this assignment has helped me a lot by enforcing the need to research before making great decisions. One great decision in my life at this moment is trying to decide on a major and trying to reveal and find out what I really want to be.

This assignment has helped me discover what it is like to get into a good law school, what the work load is like, what types of law there is to pursue a career in, and what the salary is. All these components will keep me grounded and stay true to what I originally wanted to pursue which is a career in the legal system of our country.

Bibliography

1) Warner, Rose. (1999).
29 Reasons Not to Go to Law School. London: Routledge. 2) Sere chal, J.R. (1987).
Becoming a Lawyer. New York, New York: HBC Media. 3) Gabriel, Peter. (2001, November 4).
Law School and its Perks. Retrieved November 7, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http: //law students / files.
html. 4) Segal, Nancy. (2001, February).