"I want to be a lawyer!" -- Frequently Asked Questions

Thanks a lot guys!

Phewwww...feels better knowing this .

joefromchicago...this may not be the appropriate place to ask this (and, of course, the standard disclaimer about legal advice) but I thought of you the other night when we went to a local eatery. On the inside of the window, right next to the entrance, the owner had pasted up all of the recent bad checks they had received. Bad checks with the names, addresses, phone numbers and, in some cases, drivers' license numbers or social security numbers of the writers of the checks. Fascinating reading as there were several people I know who had their checks up there. There was no headline saying "DEADBEATS" or any other form of editorial comment. Just the checks with NSF stamped across them.
Any comment?

What is the minimum you need to become a lawyer. I'm always hearing about prisoners becomming a laywer while they are in prison. Is the requirement just the passing of the bar or is a Law degree required?

Thanks in advance!

LLh

I'm not sure, but I believe posting NSF checks in public is legal. Not so sure about posting the social security numbers. Presumably, if someone puts their SS number on a check, they're willing to have that number disseminated to the public at large.

Yet another reason not to put your SS number (or phone number) on checks.

In most states, a person must be a graduate of an ABA-accredited law school in order to qualify for the bar exam. Some states, however, allow applicants who have "read law" or who have attended non-accredited law schools to take the bar. California is the most notable state that permits people to take the bar exam even if they have never attended law school or have attended a non-accredited school. For an interesting, if rather grumpy, view of the California bar, see this site.

I have a question pertaining to going ot law school outside of the US:
I am an undergraduate at the university of Miami and am graduating with my Bachelor's this December. I am researching law school and have been looking at some law schools in Great Britain. I am thining about doing my entire Law degree oversees rather than a semester of study abroad. What is the equivalent of a JD in Britain? Or, what is the process of getting an equivalent to that in the British system.
THanks

tabatha: Are you planning on practicing law in the UK? I know nothing about getting a law degree in the UK, but I am pretty certain that, if you want to practice in the US, your British law degree will not permit you to take the bar exam. There may be a few exceptions (California, for instance -- see my previous response); in general, however, you should study law in the UK only if you plan to practice law in the UK.

Hi there,

I'm just wondering what types of law I can get into, which do not require going to court. Thanks.

seattleite: First of all, welcome to A2K.

To answer your question: a lot depends on what you mean by "going to court." If you mean actually trying court cases, with witnesses and judges and juries, then practically any area of law has opportunities for lawyers who want to avoid court. On the other hand, if you want to avoid stepping into a courtroom altogether, your options become a bit more limited. For instance, I wouldn't recommend going into criminal law or personal injury law. Commercial law, however, is filled with lawyers who never go inside a courthouse. You may want to investigate being an in-house lawyer with a company: in my experience they rarely try cases.

Thank you for your reply. I am currently a junior at the University of Washington, and I was a previous member of the debate team. However, I did not enjoy the debate team very much; mostly because teams would get 20 minutes to prepare an argument for an often vague topic. I would be forced to talk off of the top of my head and think of quick come backs to often falsified information either presented by the defense or government. I often could not keep track of every point the opposition or government made, write down their point, and think of a come-back to every single point made. Unfortunately, this was how the debate was judged; trying to refute every point made by the opposition. This may seem like a stupid question, but is arguing in a court room during civil suits similar (other than questioning witnesses)? I know one has plenty of time to prepare for court cases, but is the format of the arguing similar? I just have this fear of preparing for a case and then freezing in the court room

P.S. Are there other times when you go to court, doing your job as a lawyer, besides trying cases?

The first few times you go into court, you will probably feel the adrenalin surging, your heart pumping, and your hands trembling--but the "awe" of appearing in court melts away and soon you realize: hey, not only am I prepared, I'm competent! After you get those first time jitters out of the way, you won't have time to be nervous. You're there to do a job. You will develop confidence and court appearances will become almost routine. You will know the facts of your case and you will know the applicable law. When it's your time to speak, believe me, you won't be at a loss for words.

If you're interested in becoming a lawyer, don't let your current fear of courtroom appearances hold you back.

A court case always has a trial as the ultimate destination, but the vast majority of cases are detoured along the way, either through settlement or dismissal or summary judgment. For many lawyers, over 90% of their cases are disposed of prior to reaching the trial stage: in my practice, the percentage is closer to 100%. Nevertheless, there are still pre-trial motions and other procedural matters that have to be handled in court -- it's just that those hearings aren't the same as full-fledged trials. In some cases, you would have to argue with the other side, on other occasions you wouldn't.

Although your experience with debate is useful, be assured that it is not the same thing as arguing in front of a judge. Typically, you will already know what your opponent's arguments are -- they'll be included in your opponent's pleadings. As a result, you'll know what points you have to address before you even show up to court, so you won't be facing too many "surprises" when it's your turn to speak. The ability to think on your feet is always a desirable skill, but success in court is more often the result of careful preparation than of quick wit.

Also, the format of debate is more closely akin to appellate argument or arguing motions than it is to a trial. Arguing before an appellate court, a lawyer is given a certain, fixed amount of time to argue, and the judges are also permitted to interrupt and ask questions directly to the lawyer. Then the other lawyer is given the same opportunity, after which the first lawyer often will have a chance to offer a short rebuttal. About the only big difference between that and debate is that, in an appellate court, the judges get to ask questions. That's not the way that a trial works.

With only a few exceptions, every single time I went to court was not for the purpose of trying a case. And it's not like I wasn't in a litigious area -- I worked in personal injury defense. Most cases aren't tried, and most trips to court are for court conferences or depositions if there are deposition rooms in the courthouse (there are in New York and the practice is common, whereas in other parts of the country adversaries are less picky about location and tend to take depositions in their offices much more frequently. There are probably a lot of courtrooms that don't have separate deposition rooms at all -- I've only been in NY and MA courts so I can't comment on the entire country).

All of that having been said, there are times when you go in and pick a jury or threaten to do so and then the matter is settled. But even in those cases you still have to be ready in the event that it all falls through and you end up trying the case. But that's getting rarer and rarer these days. The ABA, etc. have been talking for quite a while now about the disappearing trial. They just don't happen as often as they used to.

I don't know if it was mentioned earlier, but how do law schools look at students who went to community college for two years and transferred to a normal college to get their bachelor's degree?

Bender: I don't think that would play too large a role in the law school's decision. A law school might give less weight to an applicant's grades from community college, but it would probably focus more on LSAT scores and overall GPA.

In this case, and in any other case where the applicant's transcript might not give an accurate or complete picture of the applicant's true merit, I recommend explaining the discrepancy in the personal essay. For instance, if family or economic circumstances force you to attend community college instead of a regular four-year college, the personal essay gives you an opportunity to explain those circumstances so that the school won't hold that against you. Better to dispel any possible misconceptions than to hope that they won't arise.

Some advice for first-year law students (and those thinking of becoming first-year law students) can be found here.

just wanted to hop on and say thanks to all for the info here...

although not all of the info is relevant to me (i'm a Scot, living in Australia, starting Bachelor of Laws (LLB) next year) it has been useful all the same.


thanks!

Ffyona

Glad to be of help, ffydownunder, even though I'm sure that the US law school experience is radically different from that of Australia. I think goodfielder is a lawyer in Adelaide: he might be able to give you some helpful advice.

so different you wouldn't believe it!!!

the LLB at my chosen University (Bond University) will take me 2 year 8 months to complete. (3 semesters a year - very few holidays!!!!!)

The uni is also very small... around 2500 students spread over 4 faculties; health sciences and medicine, business and IT, Humanities and social sciences, and law.


So although my experience will differ to yours, at least the principles behind wanting to be a lawyer is the same (hopefully! ;-) )

Bump