Lawyers School And Salaries Essay, Research Paper

I am entering Georgia Tech as an international affairs major. I hope to enter law school after I graduate and pursue a career in international law. A long term goal of mine is to become a state or federal judge after having experience as a lawyer. Other fields of law that I find interesting are environmental, civil, probate and elder law.

I interviewed a lawyer concentrated in the field of civil law. Mr. Douglas Noonan grew up in Louisville, Kentucky and attended the University of Kentucky where he majored in English. Because of his excellent grades and LSAC score he was then accepted to the University of Kentucky Law School. Both Mr. Noonan and I share some common interests: history, politics, foreign languages and English. He also informed me how the practice of law involves a lot of responsibility and time commitment. Often, he works over fifty hours a week in order to analyze new and complex cases. One of my major worries is in the difficulty of raising a family and having such a time consuming job. I would like to have a family with children without having to send them to daycare. Mr. Noonan agreed with me in that it is a big challenge but the respect and confidence that go along with the job are worth it.

There is a lot of training required to become a lawyer. Educational requirements are four years in college, three years in law school and completion of the BAR examination. For admission to law school you must also take the LSAC (Law School Admissions Council). It is one of several factors used in assessing students. Mr. Noon agreed the BAR examination was one of the hardest parts in becoming a lawyer. However, to practice law a person must be licensed and admitted to the BAR Association. Competition is fierce to get into law school but there are many schools. Requirements include work in history, English, political science and foreign language. Transcripts, scores from the LSAC, letters of recommendation, personality, leadership qualities and extracurricular activities in college are all evaluated.

Even though money is not a reason to choose a career, a lawyer?s salary can be fairly high. Even though there is extreme competition for jobs there also will be a continuing demand. The average salary of a practicing lawyer is around $78,170. However, Mr. Noonan earns way above this figure. This is because he has his own practice located in Roswell, Georgia. The highest paid lawyers work for typical legal services firms or for the federal government. It can take a while for increase in salary since the median salary of a lawyer six months after graduation from law school is only $45,000. Salary also varies greatly from practice to where the lawyer works geographically.

Mr. Noonan educated me on how there are many different types of lawyers. Lawyers act as advocates by either representing their clients or presenting evidence in trial or by counseling their client concerning legal rights. The career of a lawyer is also high specialized. Mr. Noonan informed me many lawyers spend most of their time outside the courtroom, while others do not. In order to pursue my goal to become a judge he recommended I specialize in trial work to become familiar with the courtroom. I can move on from there to become a judge. Because judges apply the law, their decisions often affect the daily lives of many people. They often have to make life changing decisions as when deciding the guilt or innocence of a criminal. However, almost all judges work just as a lawyer before being appointed as a judge. I also might possibly want to become employed as a lawyer for the government. Lawyers who work for the state or federal government play a key role in the criminal justice system.

Law is the most appealing area of work for me. I want to become a lawyer or judge and will be happy to reach this goal. I hope my grades and LSAC score will permit me to take the next steps in becoming a lawyer. By interviewing Mr. Noonan, I was able to realize this is the best career path for me.