Becoming a lawyer or an attorney is an exciting and often a very noble goal. The profession is one of the highest paying in the world, and the sky’s the limit if done well. A lawyer can choose among a variety of specialties, which include but are not limited to corporate law, entertainment law, tax law as well as criminal law. Before we get into the legal things required to become a good lawyer, we need to understand what things are to be kept in mind if you want to become a competent legal professional.
Cost of studying law
The average student loan debt for law school was $143,000 as of the 2015-16 academic year. Private law schools are even more expensive, costing as much as $50,000 per academic year. Whereas, public law schools cost almost half of that amount at around $21-22k per year.
Your salary will often make up for all of it but then again, it’s not exactly a very hard science. It heavily depends on where you work. The median compensation if you work in the private sector, should be around $70-80k per year. The median, however was $122,000 per year for all attorneys in the United States. Your salary can be expected to increase as you progress in your career, so you can expect to pay back your student loans relatively easier.
Time to study law
Law school in the US is only a 3-year program if you do it full time. You can qualify to get a law school degree after you have had your bachelor’s degree, which should take 4 years. But there are alternatives to it as well.
Some law schools provide for expedited law school programs, which you might be able to finish off in just 2 years. On the other hand, you can take things slow and partake in a slower law school program which takes more than 3 years to complete to accommodate other professionals who do not have time to study law full-time.
Public Speaking
Part and parcel of being an attorney or a lawyer is to speak on a daily basis. You will have to speak in front of a variety of people like clients, judges, juries, counsels, witnesses, colleagues the list can go on and on. Corporate lawyers might not have to speak in the court, they still have to speak in the boardroom. Regardless of what your position is, you will be expected to speak in public and lead meetings.
Now, we can move on to the rules which can make you a better lawyer.
Be careful of what you speak
You are what you eat, and you speak what you hear. Whatever you speak, it is fundamentally more important than what goes on. A good criminal attorney will respond well to bad, limiting or even adverse circumstances. Hence, you will have to be careful of what you speak. Your speech should be crisp, conscientious and to the point. It must be cogent and to the point.
Passion for the job
Successful lawyers, if you talk to them, will always tell you that they have a passion for the job. The cliché “choose a job you love and you will never work a day in your life” is quite true here as well, whilst in reality its not quite as simple, but it is a good rule of thumb. Passion will help you rail through times when the going gets tough and where your wit, intelligence and hard work comes to an end.
Compassion for clients
Without compassion for your clients, whether self-acquired or given by the state, a lawyer cannot reach their full professional potential. Top legal minds in the field have compassion whenever they talk to their clients. Your client comes to you after their rights have been violated or they have been hurt because of something that has happened to them, hence compassion comes in handy for lawyers.
Willingness to Listen
This is a very underrated ability for a lawyer. A lawyer should have a strong ability and the willingness to listen to what the client/courtroom/jury has to say. Although listening is a very important part of communication overall, it’s especially important for lawyers. Communication is a two-way street, some people forget that and then also forget to listen to what the other party has to say. They would just respond instead of listen. This is a very big hindrance in effective communication.
Knowledge of the law
This one must be quite obvious. A good lawyer will have a good knowledge of the law. There are many websites that help lawyers like Lawrina or GovInfo. Because of the vast number of laws present in the American legal system, this would be illogical to assume that all lawyers know all of the laws, which is why lawyers have specialization. A good lawyer would have a very good preliminary understanding of the laws and would be willing to go back to the drawing back to learn more about the laws in question. This is a very good characteristic to have for a lawyer.
Strong at language
A very big part of being a lawyer is to write stuff down. This is a defining trait for a good lawyer. Do not be fooled with what you see on the television. A majority amount of time of a lawyer will be spent on drafting, and drafting effectively. Good lawyers are able to produce effective, clear, grammatically sound and good reasoned legal arguments. This is usually how the skills of a lawyer are measured, not with the outcome of cases, but the command of the language.
Healthy Skepticism
Every lawyer has to maintain a certain amount of disbelief to remain objective in their assessment. Do not believe whatever you get to hear, because truth is often hidden behind layers of misinformation and bad information, hence a good lawyer will keep on shifting the layers till he is satisfied that he knows the truth. Skepticism does not mean distrust of your client, jury or witnesses, it means that you keep an open mind to alternative facts.
