What you need to know on the path of becoming from a paralegal to an attorney
In the form of paralegal, you have got the inside track on the legal industry. After seeing the high salaries of the lawyer that they earn, the challenging work they do, and the level of prestige that they seem to enjoy. It is natural to think about you becoming an attorney.
But is the law school right step for you?
Over from many past decades, law school enrollments have dropped to historical lows, and nearly 10 percent of students pass from the law school of the U.S. in 2015 rather than 2010, according to USA TODAY. The statistic suggests that getting a law degree is not important for getting the job. Because only two-thirds of the graduates of 2015, get jobs that mainly required a law degree that down from over three quarters of 2007.
Getting into Law School
If you are working as a paralegal then you should have to take a bachelor’s degree before taking admission to a law school. If you have already obtained your paralegal’s degree then some of your credits will transfer. But apart from this, you have to need to complete your additional course to obtain your bachelor’s degree.
After that you have to need to take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and when once you pass the exam, then you can start to apply in law schools. The main advantage paralegals have, when they are applying for the law school, that is their knowledge and experience in the legal industry and their work of what it is like to be an attorney.
However, there is no guarantee of your paralegal job that when you apply in law school and make it more competitive. It may be put you at a disadvantage even there is a strong association between being a paralegal and performing primarily administrative-legal duties. But if you take admission in law school that it will help you to excel there your industry experience.
Pros and Cons of becoming a lawyer
The practice of the law is the oldest professional in the world, and it is dating back to ancient Greece. It symbolizes the hard work, success, making a difference, and also long hours, stress, and pressures to make a partner. Here are some pros and cons of becoming a lawyer. And we are going to discuss them.
The Pros
There are some of the pros of becoming a lawyer, and these are:
- Because fewer people are applying to law school than ever before, competition for a spot top tier schools like Yale, Stanford, and Columbia is few intense than it was in years past, even their academic standards have not changed at all that much.
- Lawyers are the one who is passed their degree from the professional law school, after that clear the state bar exam and get a license to practice in the law court. As such, it is a respected and authorized position.
- Lawyers have more knowledge in the working area of the area where they work and they also represent their clients in the court as they agree with the in-law area.
- Attorneys are paid more than paralegals and other legal professionals, mainly at BigLaw Firm.
- Lawyers generally enjoy the differentiation in their work, which gives them more knowledge and experience in their law area field and all this is exciting and challenging for them, after years of hard work.
The Cons
There are also cons of becoming an attorney, such as:
- If an attorney is a salaried employee, then they do not get the amount for their extra work, for which they expect that they will be paid.
- Responsibilities like running a firm, retaining malpractice insurance, and other responsibilities fall on the lawyer’s shoulder that they do not need to worry about for paralegal.
- Paralegals have typically more control and balance in their work-life rather than attorneys do. Through the studies, we can see that the fewer people who value flexibility and personal ethics are now choosing to attend law schools.
- Lawyers are held to extremely high standards of ethics and professionalism. If someone violates these principles then he/she should have to face results in a malpractice charge, suspension, or even disbarment.
- Law school is very expensive up to $150,000 or more. So a part of the higher salary you are thinking to make money as an attorney, it maybe go toward paying off a huge student loan debt. According to the Department of Education, this amount could 10 percent of your discretionary income.
It may be possible that the decision of choosing law is based on some different factors or it is the self-choice to choose this profession or this path. Even there are very few chances that one can choose or don’t choose this profession because of its pros and cons.