Knowing which area of law to get into...maybe a dumb question

Graduate School Law School
21

<p>the basic thing to know about being a lawyer is that it is the job of the lawyer to provide legal service to his/her client -- whether the client is a corporation, an individual, a government agency, a not-for-profit, etc., whether the lawyer is employed by a firm that is hired by the client or works directly for the client. </p>

<p>the lawyer is the "hired gun" whose job it is to help the client navigate thru a system of laws that a lay person may not be equipped to handle on their own.</p>

<p>the nature of the lawyer's practice will therefore be largely dictated by the type(s) of clients he/she represents.</p>

<p>representation can include representation in court -- but in a sense -- litigation represents the point at which things have broken down -- where the lawyer has not been able to allow the client to meet its goals thru other means.</p>

<p>representing a client can mean helping them engage in complex business transactions; it can mean helping them comply with government regulations while accomplishing their own goals; it can mean helping them navigate thru bankrupcy; it can mean helping them buy a home; it can mean helping them adopt a child. the actual situations in which a client seeks a lawyer's assistance cover an enormous range -- the laws of our society are complex -- any time a client needs help figuring out what it can or can't do, a lawyer has potential work.</p>

<p>the demands of the clients dictate the work of the lawyer. it is a service industry. if a client wants an answer in a seemingly ridiculous time frame, it is the lawyers job to do it because otherwise the client will find a lawyer who can. as long as what the client wants to do is not illegal or involve ethical violations, it is the lawyers job to work diligently on behalf of the clients interests. and what is or isn't "illegal" is not always clear -- if the lawyer can reasonably find an argument that it is legal, its his job to try to advance that.</p>

<p>the lawyer's own personal views rarely matter. it is unethical to represent a client if your personal views would mean that you could not diligently represent the client's interests. the lawyer's agenda is set by the client, not by the lawyer.</p>

<p>all this is why the hours involved can be incredibly demanding and the pressure intense.</p>

<p>you do not need to know what type of law you want to practice before going to law school -- you generally do not study a type of practice -- you learn the practice once you start working. what you need to know before going to law school is that you are comfortable with the demands of the legal profession and the basic underlying concept that your professional life will be dictated by the demands of your clients.</p>

22

<p>tennis - yes, a law degree and bar membership are necessary for the practice of any area of law. Many lawyers specialize in a particular practice area. For example, as a business lawyer, I may draft a contract for a client. If something goes bad with regard to that contract, the client may contact me about representation in a law suit. Because I don't litigate, I would hand the case over to a colleague who would handle the litigation. I may still be involved to help with the background, but I wouldn't try the case. That same client could come back to me about a will and I would refer the client to another colleague who does trusts and estates work. There are lawyers who have general practices and handle pretty much anything a client needs. Even those attorneys would likely turn certain kinds of cases over to attorneys who specialize. When I practiced, I was a litigator, but I would still turn over certain types of litigation to other attorneys who specialized in those cases. For example, I wouldn't handle patent litigation or tax litigation.</p>