Civil Lawyer Job Description Information

The practice of law includes two broad divisions, criminal and civil law. A criminal lawyer either prosecutes or defends individuals accused of violating laws. A civil lawyer represents clients in disputes between two or more parties; such disputes may concern contracts, personal injuries or property damage. The party who files the suit is the plaintiff, and the party who is being sued is the defendant, but civil lawyers represent both sides in any civil action.

 

Topics in Civil Law

  • According to the Missouri Bar Association, topics dealt with in the practice of civil law include agricultural law, animal law, business law, consumer law, employment law, entertainment law, family law, intentional torts that include defamation of character, slander, libel, battery and assault, negligence and sports law.

A Generic Job Description

  • Resume Objective, an informational website, offers a sample job description for a civil lawyer working for a law firm. According to the job description, the primary obligation of a civil lawyer is to conduct lawsuits for the purpose of earning income for the company.

Cases

  • The civil lawyer's cases can involve any or all of the topics described, depending on the size of the firm and her legal specializations and experiences. The civil lawyer must be prepared by education and experience to handle such cases adroitly.

Curbing the Impulse to Criminality

  • According to Resume Objective, civil lawyers should have an interest in criminal psychology and use it to develop measures that will keep potential criminals in check.

Other Duties

  • Civil lawyers also supervise and mentor the work of junior attorneys on their cases. They must oversee the creation and care of legal documents and portfolios connected to the cases they handle. The civil lawyer must also handle legal-related business dealings on behalf of his firm.

Specific Considerations

  • As in all professions, the specific qualifications that the partners of a law firm look for in a newly hired civil attorney depend somewhat on the qualifications, experience and abilities of the lawyers already working for the firm. Thus a firm might advertise for a civil lawyer with a certain amount of experience in trying personal injury cases, or someone who has verifiable abilities in handling complicated financial data generated by the clients she will represent.

Read more: Civil Lawyer Job Description | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5455821_civil-lawyer-job-description.html#ixzz1gj37Sa9c
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Lawyer Salary Information

Typically, a lawyer will have gone through four years of college followed by three years of law school, and will have passed a bar exam. The new lawyer has various career paths to choose from, and beginning salaries vary. For example, salaries at private law firms are usually much higher than salaries for public interest lawyers.

 

First Year Salary

  • The median beginning salary of an attorney in his first year of employment depends on where the attorney finds work. According to a National Association for Law Placement's discussion of its 2010 Associate Salary Survey, the median salary of attorneys in their first year of practice at a law firm is $115,000 per year. Attorneys choosing to work in a public interest capacity, however, earn far less. These attorneys earn a median salary of $42,000 per year for those working in civil legal services and $50,000 for local prosecutors.

Experience

  • As attorneys gain experience, their services are more valuable and their salaries increase from the beginning levels. For example, the median beginning salary for an attorney working at a law firm was $72,000 per year to $160,000 per year, depending on the size of the firm, according to the National Association for Law Placement. With just five years of experience, median salaries increased to $90,000 to $190,000 per year.

Firm Size

  • For those attorneys choosing to work for a law firm, the number of attorneys at the firm tends to affect the level of pay. Typically, the larger the firm, the higher the pay. The median pay for beginning lawyers at smaller law firms with two to 25 lawyers was $72,000 in 2010, according to the NALP. Beginning attorneys at firms with 501 to 700 lawyers earned a median salary of $117,500, and earned a median salary of $160,000 per year at firms with more than 700 lawyers. These companies include those that have offices worldwide.

Regional Differences

  • There are also differences in the mean, or average, salary of attorneys based on the state in which they practice. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, all attorneys in Florida earned an average salary of $118,040 per year in 2010, while the average salary of an attorney in California was $155,740. In the middle are states such as Texas, where the average salary was $128,650 per year, and Illinois, where the average for all lawyers in 2010 was $132,620.

Read more: What Is the Estimated Beginning Salary of a Lawyer? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_12046059_estimated-beginning-salary-lawyer.html#ixzz1gj1Ua6yT
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How to Become a Lawyer

Becoming a lawyer is a dream for many, but there are several difficult and challenging steps to take before you can be a lawyer. For those thinking seriously about practicing law, here is an outline on exactly what it takes to become a lawyer.
  1. Learn everything you can about what it means to be a member of the legal profession, including typical employment opportunities, amound of school required, certification necessary in your state and the inside scoop from practicing lawyers on how they like their jobs.
  2. Get a 4-year undergraduate degree from a recognized institute and make sure you graduate with a high Grade Point Average (GPA).
  3. Prepare well for LSAT (Law School Admission Test). It is a pre-test for getting admission to a law school. There are several prep courses offered or you can purchase books, tapes or other self-testing supplies to prepare for the test. You can even purchase and read relevant law books for your LSAT preparation (see Resources below).
  4. Apply to at least three law schools, as you may not gain admission to every institute where you send the application. Know that the law school should be recognized by ABA (American Bar Association). The accreditation of law schools may vary from state to state.
  5. Complete your three-year law course from the institute or university you selected. Try to participate in as many extracurricular activities as you can, such as the Bar Review, internships or writing for a campus law journal. This will help you add experience to your resume when it is time to graduate and look for a job.
  6. Choose your specialized area for practice during your law graduation. At the end of your graduation, you would receive a Juris Doctor, or J.D. degree.
  7. Pass the state Bar association exams. You can find out when state testa re administered by contaction the state Bar associations. If you want to take the Bar in another state, make sure you find out the requirements, dates, fees and other info in plenty of time.
  8. Prepare a resume highlighting your experience and skills and start pounding the pavement looking for a job as a lawyer. There are many different kinds of lawyer positions in the public and private sector.
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