10.3) Life as an attorney.
Description
This article is from the King Hall Law School FAQ, by David F. Prenatt, Jr. NetEsq@dcn.davis.ca.us with numerous contributions by others.
10.3) Life as an attorney.
Lawyers are hated and feared by most people because lawyers are most
commonly associated with legal problems like divorce, personal injury,
and criminal prosecution. Indeed, this is how most people first
encounter lawyers. But most lawyers have nothing to do with divorce,
personal injury, or the administration of criminal justice. They work
for very rich people who pay very well for legal advice on wills,
contracts, and other legal instruments that prevent people from ever
having to appear in court.
When a good lawyer does his or her job well and gets paid for it,
it's simply not newsworthy. Many lawyers are thus quietly transformed
from being starving students to being upper middle class
professionals. Many people make more money after they graduate from
law school than they or anyone else in their families have ever made
in their entire lives. I often hear stories about the disappearing
middle class (i.e., the rich get richer and the poor get poorer).
Higher education explains this statistical anomaly because of its
resulting "leapfrog effect" on personal income, particularly with
professional programs like law school.
Along with the money, law school graduates obtain tremendously
enhanced personal prestige because they command respect in their
business and personal dealings with people who are unfamiliar with the
law. Having a law degree, however, does not necessarily make you a
better person. In some instances, it does exactly the opposite. But
that's a topic that is well beyond the scope of this FAQ.
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