How Difficult Is It To Become A Criminal Lawyer?

4 Comments

1. Majolica says:

   December 12, 2009 at 3:04 am

   Much of what CatLaw said is accurate. I just wanted to add a couple of things. My fiance is a criminal and family attorney, and he is good at it. However, I think that being a criminal attorney would be tough. A lot of the people have no desire to take responsibility for their actions. Their biggest concern is trying to get away with something. Furthermore, some of the people he has to defend are despicable.
   I wanted to add to what CatLaw said about not being sure what type of law you want to be involved in until later on. When my fiance graduated from law school he thought that he wanted to do wills and trusts, and real estate law. However, his employer at that time hated to be in court, so he received all of the cases that had ANY chance of ending up in court. That is how he ended up in criminal and family law. He realized that he liked doing it, and liked being in court.
   I would also add that, while some law schools have very high tuition, they aren’t all that high. My fiance’s loans were for about $30,000 after law school. The average salary must vary by location, because in our state the average for someone who has been practicing for the same amount of time as my fiance is about $50,000. We live in the midwest. (I believe the range was for attorney’s that had been practicing for 2-5 years, though I don’t remember the range for certain. I know that it covered third year lawyers, because he is in his third year.) I cannot attest to how hard it is to find a job, other than to say that when my fiance was looking for a new job last spring, there were not very many advertised, although most that were advertised were for first year attorneys. (They don’t have to be paid as much.) That said, he didn’t have too hard of a time finding a job, and it is a good one too.
   I would suggest speaking with a admissions counselor at a school that you are looking at. Maybe they could help you with the decision, and they could definitely help you learn more about law school, and becoming an attorney.
2. CatLaw says:

   December 12, 2009 at 3:28 am

   Right now law school is a poor investment not just because tuition is around $100,000 but because there are very few attorney jobs. There have been massive lay offs and those who graduated this Spring are having a real problem getting any kind of work. Lawyering is nothing like is seen on TV, neither is the salary. The average salary is around $42,000.
   You may want to look at http://www.lsat.org for more basic info.
   In law school you are required to take a variety of courses. Only in your last year can you get a few courses in the type of law you are interested in. Why? Because in order to be an attorney you must pass a 2-day Bar Exam which tests you on all types of law. So it is no harder to become a criminal lawyer than any other type of lawyer.
   Criminal attorneys work with a lot of unsavory people, their clients. The biggest problem is actually getting paid.
   The best type of lawyer to be is one who is employed, getting clients to pay, and doing the type of law that he/she enjoys. You may not know what type of law you really enjoy until you have had the opportunity to practice in that area.
3. Joseph C says:

   December 12, 2009 at 4:05 am

   Criminal Law can be very rewarding but so can Family Law. Corporate law can be very stressful. I would lean towards the Criminal law.