Answer by govicseo
Three years of law school plus a B.S. or B.A. degree from a four-year university.
Good luck!
Answer by Bruce
In my opinion it would be
3 years of law school and a B.S. / B.A. degree from a four-year recognized University.
This has been my experience
Answer by mailaccount63
In the USA, to become a Lawyer, IF you go to school full-time:
1) Bachelor's degree - four years from a traditional college/university.
2) Study for LSAT. Take LSAT.
3) Law school - three MORE years.
4) Study for Bar Exam. Take Bar Exam in the state where you want to practice.
5) Pass the Character and Fitness Evaluation. Then you can practice Law.
BUT........
6) You still have to continue to take classes/seminars etc. to obtain CEUs to KEEP your license to practice Law. (You aren't done with school!)
Choosing a career is one of life's most important decisions. Be aware of what you are proposing on getting yourself into. Please do more research first. Reminder: We are in a World-wide Recession. Consider career paths that have available JOBS.<<<<<
Warning> Jobs in the field of Law are drying up fast!! This is just not a good field to invest time and/or money into. This is a SHRINKING, crumbling, and dying vocational field. Many reasons. We now have computers. So, many people today (mistakenly) think they can do their own legal work, thanks to the Internet. Also, there are a lot of companies out there making very efficient legal software for the field of Law. Today's graduating lawyers tend to be very computer savvy, so they just do the work themselves to save themselves the cost of overhead. Also, the "Public" buys this legal software in order to get legal work done without the cost of an Attorney. Also, we simply already have way too many Legal Professionals - we have an absolute glut!! ("Legal Professionals" includes, but is not limited to: Attorneys/Lawyers, Paralegals, Legal Assistants, Legal Secretaries, Bailiffs, Court Reporters, etc, etc)
The field of Law has a mystique that actually exceeds reality. The field of Law is an overrated career - mostly by television. There are many myths regarding the field of Law: working as a Lawyer is mentally challenging (Actually, most work as an attorney involves routine paperwork: research, cite checking, drafting documents, and document review. Attorneys need to write down and track every activity they do, all day long [in 6 to 15 minutes increments, depending on the billing system] - a painstaking but necessary task), being an attorney is thrilling, high-powered, and glamorous (remember: television is fiction - the fictional lawyers on TV are ACTORS - the majority of work that an attorney does, does not happen in a courtroom), law students think that because they are good at arguing they will become great attorneys (actually being a great attorney is more in one's ability to mediate between differing sides and bringing them to agreement), as a lawyer I can correct injustices (actually legal decisions are more about reaching compromises than about right vs. wrong), guaranteed financial success (actually when salaries are compared, you also need to account for cost-of living expenses [most large law firms are in large cities - the bigger the city, the more cost-of-living expenses will be], payment of debts accrued while attending law school, and time needed to build a client base. Many large law firms require lawyers to work 60-80 hours per week.).
Cost of law school to be lawyer, approx $ 150,000+.
Be prepared to take on a LOT of debt.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
There are no jobs in this vocational field. My family, coworkers, friends, acqaintances, etc. have been laid off left and right in this vocational field.
Employers (usually law firms) in the field of Law today want employees with degrees from traditional colleges/universities. Those "certificates" you see advertised aren't worth the paper they are printed on - they are generally scams. (I found this out the hard way.) Also, the law school's program needs to be accredited by the American Bar Association - if it isn't, you are just wasting your time/money.
Even if you finish law school, you won't be able to find a job when you are done. Since this vocational field is shrinking, many new attorneys/lawyers are, themselves, having to work "down" as Paralegals, Legal Assistants, Legal Secretaries, Bailiffs, Court Reporters, etc, etc, to simply try to keep some of their bills paid <
Now... the law schools know this, but they won't tell you the truth >that the job market/economy is just SATURATED with way too many Legal Professionals. Instead the schools will feed you a fairytale and will LIE to you. The root of the problem is we have too many law schools. We are in a recession, and the schools are fighting for their own survival - they will tell students anything to get to the students' money. (Which is why they won't tell you the truth about the job market for the field of Law.) And these schools continue to recruit and churn out even more graduates.............Remember: law schools are BUSINESSES - their top concern is making money for themselves.
If you don't believe me, then just
Answer by CatLaw
If you have a calling to be a lawyer, please do not let anyone talk you out of it. Yes, right now the legal profession is hurting because there are too many lawyers, but the profession is fluid with people going out of it all the time.
The best thing for you to do is to research the profession so you won't go into it with any misconceptions. Lawyers do not make the salary or have the glamorous life as portrayed on tv. The American Bar Assoc (www.abanet.org) did a survey a few years ago and found that the average lawyer makes about $ 42,000 salary with $ 100,000 of student loan debt. You can cut down that debt by getting very good grades in college and getting grants.
In order to go to law school you will need to pass the LSAT. Go to http://www.lsat.org for more info. Law school is horrid. The profs are disrespectful, many of the other students gather in a clique (think high school). Law school is not at all like the profession.
Family law is a place were lots of women practice. Why? I think it is because as women we think we can help others in a divorce. But it is also one of the practice areas that gets the most complaints against attorneys and gets the most attorney burn out. Be open to all types of law. In law school the majority of courses are a required variety, including some family law.
Being a lawyer is the greatest job ever. Not because of the money which is really low. The best parts are being able to help people and if you can own your own firm. But be really sure you have a calling before you go to law school, without that calling law school / profession will destroy you.
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