Becoming a Lawyer: From Zero to Hero In 7 Steps
Undergraduate and Graduate Insights Provided by admissionsdecisions.com
Welcome back! Many subscribers are either interested in becoming a lawyer or know someone who is. One of the most common questions is how to know you are on track for a strong legal career, even as early as high school.
At Admissions Decisions, our philosophy is to advise based on the end goal, not on the intermediate steps. That means we advocate for individuals to make the choices that will get them where they want to go, not to a specific college or university. As a result, this post is going to be focused on making sure you achieve your outcome of working as an attorney, not on attending a specific law school.
Before we get started, a few caveats:
There is an assumption that the LSAT is either required or strongly encouraged. If that changes, the perspectives may change.
You must past the bar exam to be a practicing attorney.
You will do at least decently well in law school where your grades are not going to preclude you from practicing
With that out of the way, let’s get started:
Step 1: Confirm you have strong communication skills
Whether you are in high school or college or have graduated from undergrad, there are unwritten requirements in becoming a lawyer. The most important is that you must have strong communication skills, both verbal and written.
If you struggle to communicate well, particularly through written communication, you will struggle as a lawyer. It does not matter how well you can remember laws or random facts, you have to be able to present it in a way that makes sense to the audience.
There are two ways to confirm you have strong communication skills. The first way is the easiest way - look at how you’ve done in English/writing courses and standardized essays. If you are doing well on writing exams and written standardized testing (e.g., AP Exams), you probably are a strong writer. As you go through college, continue to take courses that encourage you to test your writing skills. Legal writing will be different, but like other writing styles, is a skill that can be learned.
The second way is a little less obvious, but a good test. Take an issue you are passionate about and write for the opposite position. For example, take the issue of free college education. Assuming you are against it, write as strong an argument as you can and send it to 1)someone who agrees with your view, 2) someone who disagrees with your view, and 3) someone who’s opinion you are unsure of. Ask their opinions on what you wrote.
If they engage in a discussion on the merits of what you wrote, congratulations! You are an effective writer. If they struggle to understand what is being said, then this may be an opportunity for you to improve your writing skills.
The good news? Even if your writing skills are not strong today, you can improve them over time.
Step 2: Have strong undergrad grades
When you apply to law school, your LSAT scores and undergrad GPA are the two biggest factors impacting your admissions chances into law school.
To be blunt, a weak GPA will eliminate certain law schools from consideration. “Weak” is relative. For example, Harvard Law median GPA was 3.9 in 2020, while LSU Law median GPA was a 3.62 in 2022. If you have a 3.5, you are well in the race for LSU, but you may struggle to into Harvard.
Conversely, a strong GPA will be considered at a variety of law schools.
If your GPA is lacking, you have a few options:
If you are in college still, pick up the pace and improve your GPA.
If you are not in college, do well on the LSAT.
Write a letter with your application to explain why you received a low GPA in undergrad
Have strong letters of recommendation, especially if you are not going directly from college to law school
Apply to a lot of law schools, particularly less competitive law schools
A low GPA won’t stop you from getting into law school, but it can reduce the competitiveness of the law school you attend.
Step 3: Have a strong LSAT score
There are no ways around it - the LSAT matters. Although there have been some shifts to accepting the GRE and even some movement to not require the LSAT as a part of accreditation requirements, for the foreseeable future you will need to take the LSAT.
The LSAT is your one chance to truly differentiate yourself from every other applicant. It does not matter where you to went college, what you studied, your GPA, or what extracurriculars you did. A strong LSAT score is a difference-maker as an applicant.
If you have a strong LSAT score, you can compete for a place in the most selective law schools. On the other hand, a weak LSAT score will knock you out of admissions contention.
If there is every anything you should invest in, it is an LSAT prep course. DO NOT AVOID IT. Study for the exam as early as you can. Take as many practice exams as you can. Avoid a college internship if it means having an opportunity to study for the LSAT if necessary. There is no substitute for a strong LSAT score. Law schools will know that you took the LSAT multiple times, but they will not care.
Step 4: Know where you want to practice and be licensed
There are two parts to this step.
The most important is knowing where you want to practice. This is one of the most underrated aspects of practicing law. Getting a job in the legal profession is often about who you know and the connections you have with a given firm. It is far easier to network or connect with a firm if you have a connection to the city that firm is in. The sooner you know where you want to practice, the sooner you can figure out your strategy of securing employment in that area.
For example, if you want to practice law in Houston, you should focus your legal journey on that outcome. A law firm in Houston is likely to go one of two routes to recruit talent:
Nationally recognized law firms will recruit to nationally competitive law schools (e.g., Harvard, Stanford, Columbia)
Law firms will recruit locally/regionally (e.g., a Houston based law firm is likely to recruit individuals from Louisiana and Texas law schools)
If your goal is to get into the Houston legal market and you cannot make a Top 25 law school, your best bet is to attend a law school that is in region. The likelihood that you will get easily recruited from the University of Florida law school to Houston is significantly less than if you went to Tulane University School of Law or University of Houston School of Law. That brings us to our next step.
The second part of this is knowing where you want to take the bar. Using the example before, if you are a student at Tulane, do you take the bar in Louisiana or in Texas? The easy answer (and most straightforward) is to take the bar exam in the same state where you want to practice. But many regional and smaller law schools will provide state laws that are useful in preparing for the bar. And a bar exam in another state may test you on a subject matter you are unaware of (e.g., oil and gas law on the Texas bar may not be taught in a North Carolina law school).
The purpose of taking the bar exam is to pass the exam. Determine where you have the best chance of passing the exam and what the requirements are for you to be licensed in the state you want to practice.
Step 5: Network and work in the legal profession
No matter your age, take every opportunity you can to work in the legal field. If you are in high school, offer to work for a law firm in any capacity. Volunteer, intern, get coffee, or anything else. Build relationships with lawyers and firms in your community as early and as frequently as you can.
As you work, continue to take the opportunity to work in the field. Get an internship in the legal department of companies (they do exist), volunteer for legal non-profits, and upon graduation, consider working as a paralegal.
This serves two purposes. One is to get you to know if you really want to be a lawyer and the second is to build a network for you to access when you are in law school to find internships and eventually a job as an attorney.
If you go into law school with no connections or ties to the legal market, you will be relying on what you can get done through cold emails and OCI, which can be unreliable.
Step 6: Know what you are interested in practicing
You do not need to know if you will be a tax attorney as opposed to an employment law attorney, but you do need to understand the basics of what you want to do. Common questions to know the answer to as soon as possible:
Do you want to be a litigator or transactional attorney?
Do you want to work for a firm, the government, a non-profit, or something else?
Are you interested in doing a joint-degree program or using your law degree in a non-legal setting?
Do you want to work in civil or criminal law?
The sooner you are aware of the answers to these questions, the sooner you can position yourself for success. For example, if you want to be an IP attorney, you need to know that as soon as possible. Do you have a technical or scientific background that will assist you in practicing as an IP attorney? Have you taken relevant coursework in law school (e.g., copyright law, trademarks, etc.)? Are you looking for work with firms that will allow you to practice IP?
If you do not have a plan, you may find yourself in a position where you do not get to choose the type of law you practice or if you do, your options will be extremely limited. Do yourself a favor and figure this out ASAP.
Step 7: Do not have character and fitness challenges
Passing the bar and doing well in law school is important, but one of the biggest impediments to your ability to be a lawyer are related to character and fitness.
For those unaware, before you can be a practicing attorney, you must pass the bar’s character and fitness components. This is not as simple as providing a letter of recommendation endorsing someone. The character and fitness is intrusive. It will ask for endorsements from:
Your law school
Any employer you have had in the last 5-7 years
Your undergraduate school
The character and fitness does not stop there. Any debts beyond certain thresholds (including credit card debt), any arrests, or any other potential questions about you will also be raised.
This seems obvious but things can happen. Underage drinking, domestic quarrels, and academic dishonesty are examples of things that have to be reported for the purposes of character and fitness.
If you struggle with this, it will hurt your chances at being a lawyer.
Conclusion:
There is obviously more to being a lawyer than what has been listed above, but managing the above will give you a clear path to being an attorney with as little headache.
Having a clear view of what you want to accomplish and aligning everything to that vision is the surest way to get where you are trying to go.
If you have additional questions about the process of becoming a lawyer, reach out to us. We have experience navigating law school admissions with a focus on job placement and can help you.