Q: What made you become a lawyer? What do you wish you knew at my age (15)? How do I become a lawyer? Any pros and Cons?
I am doing an interview for a summer program and would like true answers if possible.
A:
You are very young now, but it is good that you set your goals so early. When you get to college, concentrate on keeping good grades and when you get to that point, you could look into an exam called the LSAT. For now, you can read about the profession and try to learn as much as you can. Learn about the different areas of law out there. Speak with attorneys. If you can volunteer or work in paid internships at law offices, you could learn from that too. Good luck
Tim Akpinar
1 user found this answer helpful
A: If you want to be a lawyer because you think you will make lots of money, forget it. While a small minority of lawyers makes a very good income going to big firms, working long hours (80 hour weeks) or corporate law, most lawyers make modest incomes equivelent to much less demanding jobs. You are still very young. You need to do well in high school so you can go to a good college. Then you need to do well in college, get a good GPA and do well on the LSATs. As a lawyer you need to be able to put yourself in your client's shoes, with the added experience and knowledge of the law. Sometimes you will be representing people who you find dispicable, but that is your job. You can not put your own agenda ahead of your client's. Going to law school is very hard. I went at night while working full time during the day. I coulod not afford the tuition. It is very expensive. If you get into a top notch school (Harvard, Yale, NYU, etc) and do well (top 10 in your class), you will be able to get those high paying jobs, if that is what you want. If you go to a lower level school and do well you might still be able to get the higher paying jobs, but it is more difficult. If you can not get into a high level school, or do extremely well, then, honestly, it doesn't matter as much where you go. The mid level law jobs do not usually look at your grades or care what school you go to. One route many take is to get a job in the prosecutor's office and get courtroom experience. It looks good on your resume and it gets you good experience. But the pay is relatively low. Good luck.
Stephen Arnold Black agrees with this answer
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