Cherry Hill West HS Career Day

Cherry Hill West High School
Career Day
May 31, 2018

How to Become a Lawyer and What Lawyers Do

How To Become A Lawyer:

1. You are required to obtain a bachelors degree. There is no such thing as “pre-law” although some schools have prelaw advisors. You can choose any major, but the key is to choose courses that require you to hone your skills in reading, and analysis and in writing. Since a lawyer’s job is to communicate with clients, courts, administrative agencies, and adversaries, the ability to write well and to communicate well orally are extremely important.

Majors That Can Be Particularly Useful Are:

A. Social sciences such as English, History, Political Science, Economics
and Marketing.
B. Business so long as you are required to do a lot of writing.
C. Engineering or Science if you are contemplating Patent Law.

2. While you are in school, grades are exceptionally important. It is important to take a major that you are interested in and that you will do well so you can have a high GPA and class rank. Law schools pay a lot of attention to this. Also, activities are important such as Debate Team, Student Government and anything that improves your ability to negotiate.  Journalism groups are also a good choice because they showcase your investigative skills.

3. The LSAT, also known as the Law School Admissions Test is very similar to the verbal portion of the SAT.  Many schools have practical cutoffs of what they will accept for the LSAT.  It is not uncommon for students to take prep courses for the LSAT.

4. You must attend law school which is generally three years and earn a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) Although lawyers customarily are not called “doctor” in the United States, in fact they earn a doctorate degree similar to physicians, dentists, veterinarians and other professionals.  The law school you get into will be important for your future career.

5. Most lawyers are becoming specialized even though we do not hold ourselves out as “specialists” because of legal ethics. Tax lawyers generally receive the decree known as a LL. M. (Tax).  It takes an additional year of full-time study plus a thesis.

6. After law school, you must pass a “Bar Exam” in the State where you wish to practice.  There is a different test in each state and a common portion called the Multi-State Bar Exam and Professional Responsibility Exam.



Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved
Ronald J. Cappuccio, J.D., LL.M. (Tax)
What Do Lawyers Do?

1. The essence of being a professional is you have a “forensic” responsibility to find the issues and problems of your client, as well as creatively establishing a path to solve the problems and issues.

2. Most lawyers work in private practice although there is a very high percentage of lawyers that work for the government (such as prosecutors and lawyers for various governmental agencies) and as “in-house counsel” for businesses.  The in-house counsel for a business can be as small as just one person working have very large teams of lawyers.

3. Some lawyers are sole practitioners, particularly if they are very specialized. Most lawyers work in law firms of two to three people although there are larger firms including firms above 2,000 lawyers.

4. A Lawyers main daily job is negotiating with adversaries, whether it is a governmental agency such as the IRS, large businesses such as banking financial institutions, or other private parties.

5. Typical areas of practice include:

Trial Lawyers
Real Estate Lawyers
Family Law Lawyers
Estate Planning and Elder Law
Business Law
Tax Law
Patent Law




Note: If you have additional questions about you becoming a lawyer or the practice of law you may contact me.

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