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The Education of Lawyers in the United States is generally undertaken through a Law School program. The professional degree granted by U.S. law schools is the Juris Doctor or Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.). Once a prospective lawyer has been awarded the J.D. (or other appropriate degree), he or she must pass a state Bar Examination in order to be licensed to practice as an Attorney At Law . The Juris Doctor (J.D.), like the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), is a professional doctorate. The Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.S.D.), Doctor of Judicial Science (S.J.D.), and Doctor of Comparative Law (D.C.L.), are research and academic-based doctorate level degrees. In the U.S. the Legum Doctor (LL.D.) is only awarded as an honorary degree. Academic degrees for non-lawyers are available at the baccalaureate and master's level. A common baccalaureate level degree is a Bachelor of Science in Legal Studies (B.S.). Academic master's degrees in legal studies are available, such as the Master of Studies (M.S.), and the Master of Professional Studies (M.P.S.). Foreign lawyers seeking to practice in the U.S., who do not have a Juris Doctor (J.D.), often seek to obtain a Juris Master (J.M.), Master of Laws (LL.M.), Master of Comparative Law (M.C.L.), or a Master of Jurisprudence (M.J.). Admission to the Bar Requirements for admission to the Bar vary across the United States Standard Requirements In order for a person to be admitted to the and Washington . In addition, all but a handful of jurisdictions require that the applicant have earned a law degree from an American Bar Association -accredited Law School . The state of Wisconsin grants a "diploma privilege" to students who graduate from any accredited Law School within the state. This "diploma privilege" makes those students exempt from taking the bar exam; and, if they have earned acceptable grades in core areas of the law, they are allowed to become members of the Wisconsin Bar Association without taking either the multi-state or essay exam as all other applicants must do. Many American states also granted a similar privilege at the beginning of the 20th century, but gradually withdrew it under pressure from bar associations. Patent Law After passing the bar, a lawyer may practice any type of law in that state. A lawyer who wishes to become a Patent Attorney must not only take the state bar exam but also must pass the United States Patent And Trademark Office (USPTO) registration examination, commonly known as the "patent bar." Regarding technical knowledge, the USPTO requires an undergraduate technical degree (certain sciences, engineering or similar fields) or demonstrable equivalent work experience. In practice, because virtually all patent lawyers have ''at least'' a relevant four-year degree and ''many'' have graduate technical degrees, it would be almost impossible for someone without such a degree to find employment as a patent lawyer. Legal ethics rules prohibit lawyers from using the title "patent attorney" unless they are admitted to practice before the USPTO. These additional requirements make patent attorneys very rare and are in high demand by many companies, making a starting salary of $120,000 quite average. However, one can practice patent litigation without the requisite technical background. Most patent lawyers have a masters or doctorate in science or engineering in addition to the Juris Doctor degree. Benefits of admission A successful applicant is permitted to practice law. Upon admission, a new lawyer is issued a certificate of admission from the state's highest court and a membership card attesting to admission. In some states, e.g., Texas and California, new lawyers are also be issued a unique bar association identification number. In certain jurisdictions where "fake lawyers" are a serious problem (e.g., California), the number must appear on all documents submitted by a lawyer to enable the court to confirm that the lawyer is a member of the bar in good standing. Apprenticeship The American legal system is unique in that, with two exceptions, it has ''no'' formal apprenticeship or clinical training requirements ''between'' the period of academic legal training and the bar exam, or even after the bar exam. The two exceptions are Delaware and Vermont , which require that candidates for admission serve a full-time clerkship of at least five months in the office of a lawyer previously admitted in that state before being eligible to take the oath of admission. Many law schools have tried to rectify this lack of experience by requiring supervised "Public Service Requirements" of all graduates, see Brandeis School of Law (University of Louisville) Public Service Requirement In most states, therefore, anyone with a J.D. (or equivalent experience in the states that allow it) may immediately take the bar exam and be admitted to the bar, and then may immediately seek out clients and start filing papers with a court. The current system has been heavily criticized, since clients often end up subsidizing the apprenticeship of young lawyers. Interstate Admission Some jurisdictions permit the admission of an applicant who is already admitted to the bar of another state. This sort of admission may or may not be dependent on whether the jurisdiction to which the applicant is already admitted offers reciprocity to other jurisdictions, ''i.e.,'' whether the jurisdiction itself allows attorneys in without admission. Some states zealously pride themselves on the exclusivity of their admissions process and therefore do not offer reciprocity of any kind. Other jurisdictions allow admission to presently practicing lawyers upon the successful completion of a limited examination on procedure and/or Ethics . Federal courts United States District Court s (Federal trial courts) condition their admissions policies on those of the state in which they are located. Generally speaking, a Federal District Court will admit a lawyer to practice provided that he or she is already admitted to practice in that state. Thus, for example, a lawyer admitted in California may automatically be admitted to the bar of a Federal court in California, but could likely not automatically gain admission to a Federal court in neighboring Oregon. Other U.S. Federal courts, such as the U.S. Supreme Court , the U.S. Court Of Federal Claims , or the U.S. Court Of Veterans Appeals have open admissions policies, allowing bar admission to attorneys licensed anywhere in the country. Lawyer credentials, prestige, and career path American lawyers are very credential-oriented. Apart from the minimum requirements of a J.D. and admission to the state bar, there are certain credentials recognized within the profession to distinguish lawyers from one another. Those credentials are almost always mentioned in lawyer profiles and biographies, which are used to communicate to both fellow attorneys and prospective clients. Law school rankings Law schools are informally divided into "tiers" based on academic prestige. One popular and highly influential ranking list is listed on the US News And World Report (though some alternative rankings also merit mention, such as the Leiter Reports Law School Rankings ). Tiers are based on a number of factors, such as the quality of the faculty and the quality of the student body. Faculty quality is normally measured by the quality of published work, while student quality is often measured by scores on the LSAT and college grades. Recruiters from elite law firms — that is, prestigious firms in major legal markets such as New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Los Angeles (prominent examples include Cravath, Swaine & Moore ; Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz ; Williams & Connolly ; Kirkland & Ellis ; O'Melveny & Meyers ) — visit top-tier law schools each fall to recruit new associates for the following summer. In contrast, small and mid-market law firms — which make up the bulk of law firms in the U.S. — cannot predict their labor needs that far in advance, and therefore most new law school graduates who do not graduate from top tier law schools have to aggressively seek out jobs at law firms during their third year or even after graduation. Though the specific rankings are constantly changing, the overall makeup of the top schools has remained fairly constant, and is fairly well-agreed on. Very few legal professionals (judges, practitioners, or professors) argue that the top schools in the country are Yale , Harvard , Stanford , Columbia , and the University Of Chicago . NYU , UC Berkeley , University Of Virginia , Duke , University Of Michigan , University Of Pennsylvania , Northwestern , Georgetown , and Cornell are for example, among the elite schools, though there are a number of very highly regarded schools ( University Of Texas At Austin , UCLA , USC, Vanderbilt , Boston University , etc.). Typically, the most prestigious law jobs in the country -- U.S. Supreme Court Clerks, Bristow Fellows, Office of Legal Counsel Lawyers, Assistant U.S. Attorneys in cities like New York and Chicago -- come from Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, and U. Chicago (though students at the rest of the top schools will, infrequently, also fill in the ranks of these elite positions). Although this is in part because the prestige creates a self-perpetuating cycle, it is also because the students at these schools are often brilliant, well-educated, and well-connected. = Lower tiers Students who do not end up at one of these top schools can, and often do, find well-paying jobs in prestigious private firms or selective government positions. However, because there are so many law schools -- at last count, 179 accredited law schools -- and so many newly minted lawyers (about 40,000 each year), it is impossible for every graduating student to find an elite job. Students from schools outside of the "lower tiers" might not fare as well, and might have to struggle to pursue an active career as a legal practitioner. = Regional tiers It should be noted that lower tiers is an over-generalization. Schools without a strong national pedigree might have very strong regional connections. Northeastern Law School , for example, carries little national weight and is considered a lower-tier school by some ranking measures, but students graduating with a strong record will most likely find a well-paying job in the New England Market. Regional rankings are subjective and approximate. Often they have little to do with the quality of the law school and are based on factors such as how many alumni work as practicing attorneys in the region, how many alumni the entire parent university has in the region, how many professional schools the parent university has (e.g., medicine, theology), how long the parent university has existed, the academic reputation of the parent university, and how many of the parent university's graduates hold high-profile positions in business or state or large-city government in the region. = Non-ABA schools. Many schools are not accredited by the American Bar Association. Most are located in California and authorized by the California Department of Education. Credentials obtainable while in law school Within each U.S. law school, key credentials include:
State and federal court clerkship On the basis of these credentials, as well as favorable faculty recommendations, some students obtain a one or two-year clerkship with a judge after graduation. Clerkships may be with state or federal judges. Although there is a generally-recognized hierarchy with regard to clerkships (federal clerkships are considered more prestigious than state court clerkships, and appellate court clerkships are considered more prestigious than trial court clerkships), this hierarchy is a facile generalization. Clerkships are meant to provide the recent law school graduate (note: some clerks do not begin their clerkship until a few years of work in private practice, but this is somewhat rare) with experience working for a judge. Often, clerks engage in significant legal research and writing for the judge, writing memos to assist a judge in coming to a legal conclusion in some cases, and writing drafts of opinions based on the judge's decisions. Appellate court clerkships, although generally more prestigious, do not necessarily give one a great deal of practical experience in the day-to-day life of a lawyer in private practice. The average litigator might get much more out of a clerkship at the trial court level, where he or she will be learning about motions practices, dealing with lawyers, and generally learning how a trial court works on the inside. What a lawyer might lose in prestige he or she might gain in experience. By and large, though, clerkships provide other valuable assets to a young lawyer. Judges often become mentors to young clerks, providing the young attorney with an experienced individual to whom he or she can go for advice. Fellow clerks can also become lifelong friends and/or professional connections. Those contemplating academia do well to obtain an appellate court clerkship at the federal level, since those clerkships provide a great opportunity to think at a very high level about the law. Hierachies aside, clerkships are great experiences for the new lawyers, and law schools encourage graduates to engage in a clerkship to broaden their professional experiences. United States Supreme Court clerkship Some law school graduates are able to clerk for one of the Justices on the Supreme Court (each Justice takes 4 clerks per year). Often, these clerks are graduates of elite law schools (with Harvard, Yale, and the University of Chicago being the most highly represented schools) who have already clerked for at least one year with highly selective federal circuit court judges (such as Judges Alex Kozinski , Michael Lutting , Harvey Wilkinson , David Tatel , Richard Posner , to name a few). It is perhaps the most highly selective and prestigious title a lawyer can have, and Supreme Court clerks are often highly sought after by law firms, the government, and law schools. The vast majority of Supreme Court clerks either become academics at elite law schools, enter private practice as appellate attorneys, or take highly selective government positions. = Salary upon leaving clerkship The salary of a lawyer varies depending on the legal market, whether the lawyer has had a clerkship or worked in government, and whether the lawyer works at a large firm. The typical salary of an entry-level lawyer in a large, presitigious firm in a big city is approximately $125,000, before bonus (note: law firms in Los Angeles and New York are increasing their salaries, with Sullivan & Cromwell in New York recently increasing their entry level salary base to $145,000, before bonus, to entry level attorneys). With a federal court clerkship, entry level attorneys can expect two things: first, to receive a signing bonus of about $25,000 at a prestigious law firm; and second, to enter a prestigious law firm as a second-year associate (or third, if the attorney has clerked for two year). Attorneys who clerk at the Supreme Court can expect bonuses of close to $200,000 if they enter an elite firm, on top of their salary. Aside from the elite firms, however, salaries vary. Some estimates suggest the average salary for a newly-minted attorney in a smaller legal market, in private practice, not working at an elite firm, might make around $75,000. Obviously, public interest attorneys and public defenders make much less. Length of typical workweek at "megafirms" The "superstar" salaries and sign-up bonuses offered by megafirms have a downside—at most "megafirms" the standard workweek is about 80 hours. For this reason, most law graduates only stay at these "megafirms" a few years. In addition, very few starting associates make partner in firms of that size. Those who do not are usually shown the door and given a hearty, "Thanks for all your hard work these past (7-8) years," and, "Good luck! Let us know when you get a new job." Morale at a number of these megafirms is often reported to be very low. But this varies. Some firms, even though associates might work long hours, do boast high levels of satisfaction. As well, many young attorneys do not necessarily see their first few years at a law firm as the beginning of a lifetime in a firm. Many young attorneys see the firm as a way to start out, and reassess before the partnership decision is made. Some start their own practice, move to a smaller legal market, teach, go into government, or leave the law. A legal education offers many options. Career paths available with solid credentials With Order of the Coif and honors, law review, moot court, and a federal appellate clerkship on a resumé (or at least three of the four), an ambitious attorney has many options. He or she may strive to make partner at a large Law Firm , or become a law professor at a top-tier law school and try to get tenure. Alternatively, the lawyer may go to work for the Justice Department and try to obtain an appointment as a United States Attorney. Once a lawyer has reached any (or all) of those objectives, he or she may turn to developing connections with a political party and may hope for a presidential nomination to a federal judgeship or a senior position in an administration. Examples abound of attorneys who have followed such a career path. Some judges, for example, include Richard Posner, John G. Roberts, Michael Lutting, Samuel Alito, Edward Becker, and Alex Kozinski. Common earnings Per the U.S Department of Labor Occupational Outlook Handbook median earnings in 2002 for US attorneys was $90,290, with the middle 50% earning between $61,060 and $136,810. Less than 10% of lawyers in 2002 made above $150,000. This is comparable with many other professional and managerial positions. Earnings in the public sector are typically lower than what is found in the private sector. Many sources also indicate the high level of stress and “culture of hours” common in the legal profession leads to a lower level of job satisfaction relative to many other careers. |
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