Personal Injury News & Developments

Working as a judge is a respectable and noble profession that pays well. Becoming a judge typically takes years of hard work in legal practice.

Most judges serve the community by presiding over court proceedings in the United States at the local, state, and federal levels. Based on jurisdiction, voters may elect a judge, or a government official will appoint them.

A long career path for a judicial appointment will require specific qualifications and licenses to fulfill specific functions, including:

Becoming a lawyer does not happen overnight, where any potential candidate must first complete years of college and sit for the bar exam. Typically, earning a law degree takes most students three years or longer based on the particular path.

However, the length of time could be shorter or longer, depending on the individual’s career path. Before taking the bar examination, you will need to obtain a Juris Doctor (JD) degree at an accredited law school, which typically takes three years to complete.

Obtaining a Law Degree

A Notary Public is a public officer serving the community by performing various official acts to deter fraud. Companies, corporations, and private citizens use a notary as an official impartial witness when signing (notarizing) legal documents.

A part of a notary’s ministerial duties requires screening signers of essential papers to verify their true identity and willingness to sign the paperwork without intimidation or coercion. In some cases, the notary has the signer taken an oath and declare under penalty of perjury that the information in the paperwork is correct and accurate.

Most notaries work at traditional offices, banks, or financial institutions. Some notaries are self-employed, working part-time or full-time at the same institution or in a mobile capacity.

Working as an attorney in any legal field is highly competitive, making it difficult to stand out from rivals while vying for the same job opportunities.

According to the American Bar Association Profile of the Legal Profession (2020), approximately 1.3 million attorneys practice law in the United States. This number represents four attorneys for every 1000 residents in America.

Attorney Salary and Success Statistics

It takes years for aspiring attorneys to practice law, including completing undergraduate and graduate degrees, passing the bar examination, and fulfilling licensing requirements. Practicing lawyers have invested years of commitment in getting optimal LSAT scores, applying to specific law schools, and fulfilling legal education requirements.

The multistep law school admissions process at becoming a lawyer requires intense planning that might begin in high school or years after earning an undergraduate degree. Different law schools will have varying admission requirements based on the applicant’s academic performance and undergraduate GPA.

Potential candidates intending to work in the legal profession will need to demonstrate their intellectual skills in their Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) that must be completed before applying to any law school. The LSAT test assesses the test taker’s logical reasoning, critical thinking, comprehension, and analytical skills.

Paralegals are legal assistants providing support tasks and legal services for lawyers working in private law firms and the public sector at the state and federal levels. Paralegals are not licensed as attorneys but instead organize law documents, draft legal briefs, research, and communicate with clients for meetings, depositions, hearings, and trials.

Corporate legal departments, governmental agencies, and law firms hire legal assistants to perform various duties. Often, the job entails various phases of the case, like reviewing internal legal material, conducting research, maintaining reference files, or organizing evidence.

The US Department of Labor reports that over 285,000 paralegals worked in the United States in 2018, where approximately three-fourths of legal assistants held jobs at private law firms. The Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed the median annual wage for professional paralegals at approximately $53,000 (May 2018 figures).