Lawyer Questions

Re: Lawyer Questions
I assume we're talking about the United States so I'll answer that way.



The LSAT is to get you into Law School; the Bar is to make you a lawyer. But even that is misleading as there are still a few states where you can avoid the Bar exam if you graduate from an accredited in-state Law School (one or both of the Dakotas, I believe, are in this mix).

Plus, neither the LSAT nor the Bar is everything you need.

The LSAT is only one piece of Law School admissions. Another piece is undergraduate grades and a third piece is the strength of your application, which may include things like essays, volunteer service and whatnot. Numbers vary depending on the school. The Ivy Leagues are going to want top grades (as in the top 95th percentile or so and higher), but even a perfect LSAT score will not guarantee you an Ivy League admission as there just aren't a lot of spots and most Law Schools want some sort of diversity (not just in terms of race, gender, etc. but also in terms of life experiences. A Law School full of only people who had perfect LSAT scores would be a boring place indeed).

College grades are also important, but a 4.0, even in a difficult major, will also not give you an automatic pass even into an Ivy League. Not that these things hurt -- of course they don't, and a person with either perfect LSAT scores or a 4.0 in college grades, or both, will get in somewhere and probably will get into a lot of schools. It's just not a 100% guarantee.

For persons with not so hot grades in college, the LSAT can be a chance to get some redemption. Furthermore, an interesting background, or even time off between college and Law School, such as to work as a paralegal, can help to make a more marginal candidate a lot more attractive to most admissions committees.

Finally, the absolute most wonderfully best Law School, even if the candidate can get in, may not be the best fit, either for scholastic reasons or for later placement reasons. A good regional school can sometimes do better in terms of building a professional network, and being the bottom of the class in an excellent school means the candidate doesn't write for Law Review or do other things that he or she might be a shoo-in for in a less prestigious school. The candidate should weigh all options, and the prudent candidate, just like for college, should apply to some middle of the road schools, at least one gimme and at least one stretch, and see where the chips fall.

My own personal experience was that my grades were okay but not fantastic, and my LSAT was very good (the scoring has changed, so any number I gave you would be meaningless right now). I applied to ten Law Schools, with a heavier mix of stretch schools than was probably advisable. I got into two of them.



Depends what you mean by "top ten jobs". In terms of salary? Prestige? Other opportunities? Personally, I disliked practicing law and did not stick with it, but others here did and they can tell you better than I can in terms of rewards, both financial and intangible. I can, though, tell you that not every lawyer makes a mint and a lot don't. There are no guarantees there, either.



Hard to say. There will always be a need for lawyers, so long as people die (wills), are born (adoptions), get married (prenups and divorces), drive cars (auto cases), walk (trip and fall cases), use products (product liability) and have children (custody cases, wrongful birth, etc.). Plus there will always be people willing to take on a serious intellectual challenge, and the law certainly is that.

Don't forget that not every lawyer goes to court and there are several different ways you can be a lawyer. You might just go to real estate closings all day, or advise the Board of Directors of a large corporation. You might represent a beauty salon in a defective permanent wave case or do research on snow shoveling cases.



In the United States, in most states, you must have an undergraduate degree (in any subject) from an accredited four-year undergraduate institution and a law degree (JD or LLB) from a Law School accredited by the American Bar Association. Most states require passage of the Bar Exam, both the state exam and the Multistate Examination. Some states, such as New York (where I am still admitted), require passage of a Professional Responsibility (Ethics) examination and passing an interview. My being admitted also required a background check for good character -- I could not have been a convicted felon, for example.

However, these requirements are not universal; there are states where you can sit for the Bar if you have studied for a certain period of time (five years or so) under the tutelage of a lawyer. These kinds of Bar admissions are rare but they do exist. There are also differences in details among the states and there are differences for persons educated overseas.

Welcome, Amanda.

As usual, Jespah gives some excellent advice. If you want more information about becoming a lawyer, check out this thread.