I am interested in a career in law, could anybody, preferably a laywer, tell me whether or not it would be ...

Question

I am interested in a career in law, could anybody, preferably a laywer, tell me whether or not it would be worth while to try to achieve this goal. I would also like to know what the negative and positive points are to becoming one, for example: What the working hours are like,salary etc. Many thanks.

Answer 1

Say Lou good one.

Lou wants to know what you call 100 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?

Answer: A good start.

Answer 2

It's worth it, if you want to achieve it.

Question you're asking us is whether or not you want to achieve it.

Lawyers can be found working long hours for low pay, short hours for high pay, or any combination of work schedule and pay rate you can imagine.

The real question is whether or not you're doing something you find fulfilling. With a Law degree, there are a lot of directions you can go, but one thing holds true for all of them; In the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes, "Whoever would be a Lawyer must first consent to be a great drudge."

It is a long process, consisting of long periods of tedious reading, punctuated by periods of pure boredom.

However, the work can be absolutely marvelous. People come to you with problems that seem like Gordian knots to them, and you unravel it with a mere tug (which looks a lot like a phone call to the untrained eye), and occassionally they do appreciate your ability to cut through to the real problem and get it solved.

Go meet a few lawyers, find out first hand what their work lives are like. You spell better than most questioners here, you probably can succeed, but the real question is whether or not you'll be happy. You need to see what lawyers really do, and decide if you think that's more fun than your other alternatives.

Answer 3

Only you can answer that question really. What's in your heart. Do you have gravitas and just how well you are doing in High School. If this is what you want, start writing to some law schools and by all means have a heart to heart with your school guidance counselor. This person will be able to speak to you directly and they will have some background information on you in order to inform you.

Someone giving you guidance in this medium without knowing all the circumstances and your ability and preparation so far will only be kidding you. The only thing anyone can do here, is to encourage you to seriously look into law school if this is truly what you want.

Answer 4

This is a very difficult question to answer as there are so many aspects to a career in law. Law is about a way of thinking, it develops a mindset that concentrates on evidence based arguments. Lawyers tend to have an analytical approach to problem solving and an ability to identify the key issues in cases/situations/arguments. This ability can be developed so that they can advise about approach and so tend to give good, sensible advice about the way to proceed, identifying the risks involved. This requires a willingness to dig to the bottom of things and sort out the facts from the impressions etc.

Beyond that things get a little more open. Lawyers are involved in numerous aspects of public life. Lawyers specialise in areas ranging from conveyancing (organising property sales) criminal and personal injury law to maritime, international, tax, human rights, public law, environment the list goes on. The profession is split into at least two branches - Solicitor and Barrister (although in some jurisdictions these are fused therefore all lawyers appear in courts) and there are a number of other options such as academic, paralegal, legal executive and legal researcher. Generally barristers appear in court and provide specialist pure law advice through solicitors while solicitors have direct contact with clients and act on their behalf in a number of issues, providing advice and performing functions such as making wills, setting up trusts, even holding funds. These distinctions are not clear as solicitors may appear in court and both types of lawyer may work as an 'employed lawyer' or 'counsel' for large firms or the government. Beyond this I would suggest you start with having a look at lawcareers.net, the learn direct website and the sites for the Law Society and the Bar Council

As for your questions the working hours tend to be long, in fact law does have a tendency to take over your life as it affects the way you think. Salary varies but you can earn a very good wage if you go down the private practice route (senior private practice partners can earn in excess of £200), but beware the hours and the fact that many firms expect your soul in return - do a google search for the Michael Page legal salaries. Remember that (unless employed as an in-house counsel) Barristers have to work for themselves, this means they can earn well but have a devil of a time getting a mortgage!

The work can be amazingly interesting and cover areas that really make a difference it can also be mind numbingly tedious and involve working with people you would rather not spit on if they were on fire.

The diversity of personalities attracted to a career in law is significant. I personally am a bit of a performer, I like a debate and a challenge, I like the fact that I can make a difference when it counts. I enjoy the law but I don't like the professions tendency to take over ones life. In the It is all about what you bring to the career, the best lawyers (in my opinion) have basic common sense and a sense of humour because ultimately the law is all about the rules that govern, at various levels, the way people relate to one another.

Answer 5

Not a lawyer but I'm interested in law also. I think it would be worth while to do I'm thinking of doing an access law course which is for around 1 year then you can go to uni with that & do the law degree. It does seem like a stressfull job but def the pay is good.

Answer 6

I am a legal secretary and have worked with lawyers for almost 20 years. Depends on what area of law you go into, but civil litigation, insurance defense is my background and the downside of that is the lawyers have to bill for their hours which they have a minimum they must bill for, for example, 150-180 hours a month (this is in California). Civil litigation is VERY STRESSFUL. There is trial work involved and this can get very stressful as there are tight time lines. You have to report to an insurance company's claim representative who in turn reports to someone higher up, and when someone is putting the screws to them, they put the screws to you, the lawyer, who in turns puts it to his secretary or paralegal. There are many other facets of the law that are very rewarding, though, like elder abuse law, entertainment law, employment law, but that's civil litigation again.
The plus side whether you work the defense side or plaintiff side, is that there are bonuses to be made.

Good luck.

p.s. I hate being a legal secretary.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

You're surely not expecting an honest answer from a genuine member of the legal profession are you?