Lawyer: Job Description, Opportunities, Education, Skills and Duties
Submitted by: paula
JOB OVERVIEW When people hear the word lawyer or an attorney, they usually think of an individual who goes to court everyday and stands before a judge, presents arguments and defends the rights and most of the time, the freedom of another individual or a client. This is true in some cases, however, there are many different classes and types of lawyers according to settings and specialty. And for each type, they focus on a variety of similar and related cases, job responsibilities and of course, duties. No matter what type of lawyer one may be they ultimately have an extremely important role in the lives of others.
Lawyers serve as both as advocates of human rights and advisers to the legalities of events and conditions. As advocates, they stand for theri clients, speak before a court so as to argue specific points that might not be realized by the individal seeking for a legal assistance. They present facts and contrast them with the rules and regulations or the prevailing laws in the state. As advisers, they counsel people with their personal difficulties, business and related events with legal implications. They may also participate in drafting laws.
EDUCATION, KNOWLEDGE AND TRAINING REQUIREMENTS
There are stages to pass or gates so as to become a lawyer. A pre law degree is a must before advancing to a Law school. Some of the suggested and rather helpful college courses include a degree in English, History, Political Science, Economics, and Social Science. An entrance examinaton testing the suitability of the applicant to enter the law school will follow. After passing this stage, the applicant is then ready to take a degree in Law. This will provide him/her the knowledge base and the training ground on the what to do's of the lawyers in several cases. After all the requirements in the law school, including the on the job training as well as the case requirements, have been fulfilled, he/she will then graduate from the post college degree and take the bar examination of the state. The state's bar examination will provide the license or the registration to the applicant to be a licensed lawyer.
ABILITIES AND SKILLS
The skills needed are the skills in communication, critical thinking skills, analytical skills, organizational skills as well as the compassion to help people assert their rights against oppressors.
The expertise in the field will only be put to practice if one has good communication skills. Critical thinking is needed so as to be able to distinguish between what is lawful or just from the unlawful and illegal as well as unjust. Since they are required to study cases and defend, they should be bale to analyze and seek for patterns and conclusions so as to complete the case's story before going onto a debate.
DUTIES
There are many different general duties and responsibilities a lawyer has to take. The lawyer will have to serve as a representation of thec clients in court, in mediations as well as in relevant legal processdes and proceedings, and transactions. He has to study every case to gain adequate knowledge on what to protect and assert within any transactions and legal rallies.
EARNINGS AND JOB OUTLOOK
Being a lawyer is considered a highly dignified professional. The estimated salary of a lawyer is around 94,930 U.S. dollars per year. However, the median earnings of all state and local government lawyers has a range between $70,280 to $73,410 in an annual basis. The federal lawyers have a higher rate of income $108,070 per year. Those who entered practice in large law firms started with salaries ranging from $34,000 to $80,000 per year.
Paula Hiz is a researcher and a human resource specialist who helps newly graduates, job applicants and post graduate professionals be aware of the opportunities and trainings for skills and practice upgrading.
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Word Count: 677 Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2010 Time: 9:04 AM
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