What qualifications do you need to be a lawyer?

old.holly265

Hi Becca

As your post has cropped up in the UK & Ireland questions, I am assuming that you are likely to be in England Wales, which is how I have tailored my response.

The first thing that you need to do is to decide what sort of lawyer you want to be. The word "lawyer" is simply a catch-all term to describe a professional working in the law. Different branches have different routes to qualification - I have incorporated links to 3 of them below.

Once you have decided what sort of lawyer to be, you then need to consider what field you would like to specialise in. This becomes important as other types of study may well be of use to your particular specialism.

Despite the cynicism expressed by some contributors, I can tell you that working in the law can be a very rewarding career and, depending on your choices, you do not necessarily have to appear in court or deal with criminals either.

If you do want to pursue the career, I wish you well with it. And if you don't, I wish you well with whatever your choice is.

bassdoc

In the US you first need to have a four year college Bachelors degree.
Then you have to score well on the entrance exam, then Law School itself takes about 3 years.
Then you have to pass the Bar Exam to let you work in that State.
Then you have to look for a job or start a business of your own.
It's expensive and time consuming but you can make a lot of money.
If it's too long consider being a paralegal, which takes less time and can also be a very good job.
Look for schools online.

Ethan

You have to go to university or college and study law.

Cybele

Typically a bachelor's degree, law school (which is three years), and you have to pass the bar (a series of examinations) where you intend to practice

Joe Finkle

It's very different in different countries. Within the US, where I am, it varies slightly within different states, but basically, you need to go to law school and pass the bar exam in the state where you want to practice (which is easier in some states than others). Before going to law school, you have to have a bachelor's degree.

CHarli

university degree. and to get into uni you need a pretty high entrance score

jenniesrainbow

Taking the day off isnt a great start.

Little clev

You need to pass the bar.

nitro

The process differs from country to country. You forgot to mention wher you from so i will give you some idea in general.Legal education is the education of individuals who intend to become legal professionals or those who simply intend to use their law degree to some end, either related to law (such as politics or academic) or business. It includes:
In the United States, law is a graduate degree, which students embark upon only after completing an undergraduate degree in some other field (usually a bachelor's degree), and is considered to be a graduate or professional school program. The undergraduate degree can be in any field, though most American lawyers hold bachelor's degrees in the humanities and social sciences; legal studies as an undergraduate study is available at a few institutions. American law schools are usually an autonomous entity within a larger university
First degrees in law, which may be studied at either undergraduate or graduate level depending on the country.
Vocational courses which prospective lawyers are required to pass in some countries before they may enter practice.
Higher academic degrees.
The Bachelor of Laws (abbreviated LL.B., LLB or rarely Ll.B.) is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and which originated in England. It was established as a liberal arts degree, which requires that the student undertake a certain amount of study of the classics, but has developed into a more specialized professional degree in recent years. Nonetheless, the goals of most LL.B. programs are to provide a scholarly education, and therefore jurisdictions which offer the LL.B. require additional education or training before a graduate is authorized to practice law. In Australia and Canada it is sometimes referred to as a post-graduate degree because in those countries a previous college degree is sometimes required for admission. The "LL." of the abbreviation for the degree is from the genitive plural legum (of lex, legis f., law), thus "LL.B." stands for Legum Baccalaureus in Latin. In the United States it was sometimes erroneously called "Bachelor of Legal Letters" to account for the double "L" (and therefore sometimes abbreviated as "L.L.B.").

The United States is the only common law country which no longer offers the LL.B. at all. Since the late-nineteenth century universities the United States awarded the professional doctorate J.D., which became the required degree for the practice of law in the U.S. in the 1970s. Upon completion of the LL.B. degree (or its equivalent), graduates are generally qualified to apply for membership of the bar or law society. The membership eligibility bestowed may be subject to completion of professional exams. A student may have to gain a further qualification at postgraduate level, for example a traineeship and the Legal Practice Course or Bar Vocational Course in England and Wales or the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws in Hong Kong.

In Australia, LL.B. graduates are required to undertake a one year articled clerkship or the Legal Practice Course (Commonly Practical Legal Training or PLT) before applying for registration as a solicitor. Depending on the State to which a practitioner is admitted membership of the Bar is either restricted to Barristers, or open to both Solicitors and Barristers in the states where both roles are fused. In the states that maintain membership of the bar as a separate entity, entry is attained through the successful completion of an exam and a nine-month period of tutelage (the reading period) under a senior Barrister.
Although not required by the licensing process, many 1st and 2nd year law students work in law firms during the summer off-school season to earn extra money and to guarantee themselves an articling position (with the same law firms) upon their graduation from law school, because there is always fierce competition for articling positions, especially for those in large law firms offering attractive remuneration and prestige, and a law graduate cannot become a licensed lawyer in Canada if he/she has not gone through articled clerkship
For the most part, foreign law graduates seeking admission to the bar in the United States will find their LL.B. law degree does not of itself fulfill the core admission requirements of most states, thereby not allowing them to take the bar exam.

The major exception to this is New York, where those foreign graduates who have fulfilled the educational requirements to practice law in another common law country through study at an approved educational institution, similar in both duration and content to the equivalent teaching at an approved U.S. law school, are permitted to sit the bar. Additionally, both New York and Massachusetts permit Canadian LL.B. holders to take the bar. The requirements of each of the states vary, and in some states sufficient years of practice in one's home country may allow for those otherwise excluded to sit for the bar. Interested applicants should check the requirements of each state bar association carefully as requirements vary markedly

bo peep

I wouldnt need any qualifications for you to become a lawyer

nightcrawler

You need to be more specific about what you mean by being 'a lawyer'. It is a broad term that can include a number of disciplines broadly concerned with the application of law.

For example, I worked in the legal department of a large commercial organisation in a position they called 'Senior Lawyer', alongside solicitors and barristers. Law is not a major element of my qualifications but we did the same job. I cannot call myself a solicitor or a barrister and cannot provide the services of those professions directly to the public.

You can be qualified in law and still lack the mental discipline to be effective. I am sure you will receive comprehensive answers to the question each answerer thinks you asked. For me, the first task is to understand the question and to seek clarification where necessary or, at least, to point out the scope for misunderstanding. I think of the application of law as precision engineering, to design out the misunderstandings and to test the flaws.

For most people, their route into law starts with a good law degree. For some of the most dynamic solicitors and barristers I have encountered, it started with a good engineering degree followed by formal legal training. There can be many ways of reaching a destination. The most direct is not always the best.

Dahnay

Law degree
Bar exam
and loads of patience

Pickle

You will need to study law at university....

prahlad_ganesh

The educational prerequisites to becoming a lawyer vary greatly from country to country. In some countries, law is taught by a faculty of law, which is a department of a university's general undergraduate college.[67] Law students in those countries pursue a Master or Bachelor of Laws degree. In some countries it is common or even required for students to earn another bachelor's degree at the same time. Nor is the LL.B the sole obstacle; it is often followed by a series of advanced examinations, apprenticeships, and additional coursework at special government institutes.[68]
In other countries, particularly the United States, law is primarily taught at law schools. In the United States[69] and countries following the American model, (such as Canada[70] with the exception of the province of Quebec) law schools are graduate/professional schools where a bachelor's degree is a prerequisite for admission. Most law schools are part of universities but a few are independent institutions. Law schools in the United States (and some in Canada and elsewhere) award graduating students a J.D. (Juris Doctor/Doctor of Jurisprudence) (as opposed to the Bachelor of Laws) as the practitioner's law degree. However, like other professional doctorates (including the M.D.), the J.D. is not the exact equivalent of the Ph.D., since it does not require the submission of a full dissertation based on original research. Many schools also offer post-doctoral law degrees such as the LL.M (Legum Magister/Master of Laws), or the S.J.D. (Scientiae Juridicae Doctor/Doctor of the Science of Law) for students interested in advancing their knowledge and credentials in a specific area of law.[71]
The methods and quality of legal education vary widely. Some countries require extensive clinical training in the form of apprenticeships or special clinical courses.[72] Others do not, like Venezuela.[73] A few countries prefer to teach through assigned readings of judicial opinions (the casebook method) followed by intense in-class cross-examination by the professor (the Socratic method).[74][75] Many others have only lectures on highly abstract legal doctrines, which forces young lawyers to figure out how to actually think and write like a lawyer at their first apprenticeship (or job).[76][77][78] Depending upon the country, a typical class size could range from five students in a seminar to five hundred in a giant lecture room. In the United States, law schools maintain small class sizes, and as such, grant admissions on a more limited and competitive basis.[79]
Some countries, particularly industrialized ones, have a traditional preference for full-time law programs,[80] while in developing countries, students often work full- or part-time to pay the tuition and fees of their part-time law programs.[81][82]
Law schools in developing countries share several common problems, such as an overreliance on practicing judges and lawyers who treat teaching as a part-time hobby (and a concomitant scarcity of full-time law professors);[83][84] incompetent faculty with questionable credentials;[85] and textbooks that lag behind the current state of the law by two or three decades.[86][87]

Answers202

You need to be a good liar, just like Biden, who lied fourteen times last night, claiming McCain voted against and for issues that he did not. I have often wished that I had pursued a career in law, but I would have preferred the pro bono work.

Carlos

u must be born without a soul or a conscious

robert h

Being able to dance like Michael Jackson.

Anony Mouse

-Law degree
-Bar exam
-Deal with the devil, signed in your own blood :)

Michael O*Leary

Well Becca, Let me see. Well to start with you need a black gown, I should say that you are about a size 10. Then you need some black tights and you must tie your hair back.
Oh yes, You had better take some exams as well

Brett

Greed and a lack of morals!...

If you really want to become a lawyer, then surely you wouldn't need any help on this question...

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