Some of us have had a dream career since we were children.
While many people dream of being firefighters or actors, there are those select few who have watched too many legal shows with their parents growing up and dream of becoming a lawyer.
However, TV shows miss out on a lot of the reality of studying and practicing law professionally, and new students can sometimes feel that they’ve made a grave error.
This article will break down five important things to know about the journey before you commit to the career.
Table of Contents
Specializing
First, you should know that it’s important, if not imperative, that you specialize and try to narrow down your area early on in your studies.
After the initial phases of your degree, you’ll need to pick your focus anyway, and it’s helpful to know what you’re interested in straight off the bat.
When you start practicing, it’s helpful to get experience in a specializing law firm, like Lamber Goodnow Injury Lawyers, if you’re interested in personal injury, for example.
Reading
Studying law entails a lot of reading, and practicing professionally isn’t much different.
You’ll need to be reading up on old cases and referring back to the law on a constant basis, so if you’re not a fan of reading, then you’ll need to think long and hard about your choice.
It’s helpful to make notes of your own while reading anything so you have something simple and well-organized to refer back to the next time you need the information.
You’ll also want to learn and practice the skill of skim reading – no, this isn’t lazy; it’s just efficient!
Organization
On the topic of notetaking, you’ll need to be highly organized as a law student and practicing lawyer or attorney.
You’ll spend a lot of your work hours reading, researching, and planning for trials, etc., and making sure that you have all your information in a smart system is important.
Decide whether you prefer to work digitally or with pen and paper and stick to that system.
Keep everything well organized and categorized for different laws and cases so you know where to look for your information.
Hard Work
Make no mistake, being a law student and a lawyer thereafter requires a lot of hard work and focus.
This isn’t a quick and easy route to making loads of money – the highest-earning lawyers have been working at it for years on end and put in many hours to reach where they are today.
If you’re not afraid of hard work, then you can leap into this career knowing you’ll be able to make it, but if you like to skirt your responsibilities, you might want to reconsider.
Constant Learning
Finally, keep in mind that with constant reading comes constant learning – an incredible aspect of a career in law.
You’ll never stop learning new things and being challenged by different trials.
This makes the degree and career incredibly worthwhile, especially for a curious mind that loves to work hard.
