Have you always dreamed of becoming a successful lawyer? Are you wondering what the duties and responsibilities of a lawyer are, and how much they can earn?
If you’ve answered a resounding ‘yes’ to the above questions, keep reading. This article will cover everything you need to know about being a lawyer, including the main duties, areas of practice, and earning potential.
What is a Lawyer?
A lawyer is a legal specialist. Upon qualifying (or during their studies), a lawyer will choose to specialize in a particular area of the law, such as personal injuries, auto accidents, or family law. They then become experts in their niche and work with a variety of clients to help them resolve legal issues.
Where Can Lawyers Work?
The majority of lawyers work in law firms like Lamber Goodnow in Phoenix. They’ll operate in their local area to help residents of all kinds. Lawyers can also work independently or as part of private practice, and they may choose to travel across multiple states to expand their client base.
Lawyers work across three main areas – local, state, and federal. Government-based lawyers can work in courthouses and government buildings as prosecutors, district attorneys, public defenders, and policy-creating lawyers.
There’s also the option to work for non-profit organizations. Lawyers in this field might work in environmental protection, child welfare, and domestic violence. Of course, qualified lawyers can also choose to enter the education industry and teach other lawyers and students in their areas of legal expertise.
How Much Do Lawyers Earn?
According to Indeed, the average annual salary of a reliable lawyer practicing in the United States is around $95,783. The lowest earning potential is around $45,000, and the highest is over $200,000.
The exact salary that you earn as a lawyer depends on your location, work hours, expertise, and personal fee structure. As you gain more experience, win more cases, and start to build a name for yourself in the field, you can start to raise your prices and increase your earning potential.
It’s important to remember that, even though lawyers earn a decent salary, they also work long hours. The average work week for a lawyer practicing in the United States is around 40 to 44 hours. However, some lawyer can work up to 80 hours a week if they’re dealing with particularly complicated cases.
What Does a Lawyer Do?
Lawyers such as a whistleblower lawyer perform a wide range of tasks. They can offer advice to clients to help them overcome legal issues. A car accident lawyer can also represent clients in court to help them win compensation after sustaining personal injuries from vehicular accidents.
Depending on the specialty that the lawyer has chosen, they might offer advice on family matters, personal injuries, estate planning, or buying or selling properties. They can also work closely with business owners to help them understand employment laws more easily or draft and refresh contracts.
Lawyers may need to represent clients as part of legal proceedings. They might need to stand up in front of a judge to win their client’s cases and get justice for them.
As part of their cases, lawyers often need to gather evidence from witnesses and piece together several pieces of information to create a strong and believable case. Every case requires a high level of research that can take several weeks or even months to gather.
What Skills Do Lawyers Require?
For a lawyer to succeed, they need to have a very specific set of skills. Firstly, they’ll need specialty knowledge in their chosen niche to become an expert in the area.
All types of lawyers should always be confident and professional, especially those who need to represent their clients in a court of law. As easy as it looks, it can be very intimidating to stand up in front of a judge and jury and successfully convey the details of your client’s case.
A large part of being a lawyer involves communicating with clients, other legal professionals, witnesses, police officers, judges, and juries. Social skills are vital, and lawyers must know how to adapt their language appropriately for each person they liaise with on a case.
Lawyers need to maintain professional boundaries when working on sensitive and challenging cases. They need to learn how to prevent difficult case information from negatively impacting their mental health, and this is a skill that can take several years to develop.