1. Name of your career. Criminal Lawyer 2. Name the college degree(s) you must have (or could be helpful to have) to achieve this career goal. Bachelor’s degree, and then attend a law school. 3. How many years of college does it take to earn the degree(s)? It’s recommended about 4 years of regular college and 3 years of law school. 4. Name 3 colleges you could attend locally to achieve or begin to achieve this career goal? (Include the college’s web addresses) University of Atlanta, http://www.uofa.edu/, Mercer University, http://www.mercer.edu/, and Emory University, http://www.emory.edu/ 5. What training must you obtain to be able to begin this career (police academy, etc)? You must attend Law School and pass the Law School Admission Test. 6. How many hours/weeks of this training are required as a minimum? Law school usually takes 3 years to complete, on the top of the 4 years of regular college. 7. Name three local academies you could go to and how many hours/weeks each requires for graduation. Include the possible cost of attending and entry requirements.
If your career is federal (FBI, US Marshal), find the federal academy you must attend and give its requirements for entry and graduation. Criminal Lawyers don’t go to police academies, they attend college and law school.
8. Name 5 activities of interest to you that someone in this career does on a regular basis. 1) Consulting various experts in other fields, such as psychologists and other scientists. 2) Examining all the facts in the case and using them to support the attorney’s argument 3) Making a case that supports their clients’ innocence. 4) Deal with cases that involve crimes, like murder, robbery, assault, and fraud. 5) Prepare legal documents. 9. Name 5 things about this career you don’t think you would like. 1) There’s not set amount of hours 2) The emotion after losing or letting down your side 3) Working alone most of the time 4) Spend most of their times in offices 5)Very stressful 10. Name 5 critical skills you need to be successful in this career. You need to be 1) good at writing 2) good comprehensive skills 3) Strong analytical skills 4)Enjoy arguments and complex ideas 5) Good work ethic 11. Which skill do you believe is the MOST important? Why? I believe the most important skill would have to be good comprehensive skills, because being a good lawyer requires you to really know the law and how it works, and you would have to remember a lot of stuff you read and did in law school. 12. What type of training/degrees must you obtain to “move up the ladder” in this career (promotions etc.)? To “move up the ladder” you would just need more and more experience. 13. Name 3 traits you have that would make this career a good fit for you. I am very good at arguing, remembering stuff I read and I love complex ideas and problems. 14. What is the average annual pay for a career like this? Translate that to hourly pay. For the entry wage it would be about $36 an hour, for and medium wage it would be about $56 an hour and for an experienced wage it would be about $80+ an hour. 15. How can you move up the pay scale in this career? More and more experience. 16. What type of hours will you have to work? Would there be any travel involved? They usually work 9 hours a day and up to 50 hours a week. 17. Is this career one that is growing in the U.S.? Yes, because poverty and drug addictions are not going away, and these are two of the most common reasons that people commit crimes in our society. 18. Name 3 careers that go hand-in-hand with the one you have selected. Court Clerk, Editor and Judge.
Summary: Based on what you discovered about this career, is it still one you think you would like to pursue? Why did you answer this way and what do you expect to get out of this career? (answer should be 2 or more paragraphs long) Being a Criminal Lawyer is a lot different than what I thought it was, I thought that it was just what you see on TV and I thought all they did was what they do in court. After this research I actually find it more interesting than I did before. I found out that they do a lot “behind the scenes” that I think is really cool, they get to go talk to psychological professionals and other areas in this field to really get a good case. The only thing I would not like to do is defend someone that I knew was guilty, that would be really hard for me to do. I expect a lot of chaos, and long nights staying up finding loop holes in the law. I still want to be a lawyer because I think I would be really good at it, and I would enjoy it. Lawyers also make good money, and that would be a very good thing. Being in a career that I enjoy is also very important for me, and I think this one would be a good choice for me because I would enjoy most everything about this career. Sites I Used
1. Name of your career.
Criminal Lawyer
2. Name the college degree(s) you must have (or could be helpful to have) to achieve this career goal.
Bachelor’s degree, and then attend a law school.
3. How many years of college does it take to earn the degree(s)?
It’s recommended about 4 years of regular college and 3 years of law school.
4. Name 3 colleges you could attend locally to achieve or begin to achieve this career goal? (Include the college’s web addresses)
University of Atlanta, http://www.uofa.edu/, Mercer University, http://www.mercer.edu/, and Emory University, http://www.emory.edu/
5. What training must you obtain to be able to begin this career (police academy, etc)?
You must attend Law School and pass the Law School Admission Test.
6. How many hours/weeks of this training are required as a minimum?
Law school usually takes 3 years to complete, on the top of the 4 years of regular college.
7. Name three local academies you could go to and how many hours/weeks each requires for graduation.
Include the possible cost of attending and entry requirements.
If your career is federal (FBI, US Marshal), find the federal academy you must attend and give its requirements for entry and graduation.
Criminal Lawyers don’t go to police academies, they attend college and law school.
8. Name 5 activities of interest to you that someone in this career does on a regular basis.
1) Consulting various experts in other fields, such as psychologists and other scientists. 2) Examining all the facts in the case and using them to support the attorney’s argument 3) Making a case that supports their clients’ innocence. 4) Deal with cases that involve crimes, like murder, robbery, assault, and fraud. 5) Prepare legal documents.
9. Name 5 things about this career you don’t think you would like.
1) There’s not set amount of hours 2) The emotion after losing or letting down your side 3) Working alone most of the time 4) Spend most of their times in offices 5)Very stressful
10. Name 5 critical skills you need to be successful in this career.
You need to be 1) good at writing 2) good comprehensive skills 3) Strong analytical skills 4)Enjoy arguments and complex ideas 5) Good work ethic
11. Which skill do you believe is the MOST important? Why?
I believe the most important skill would have to be good comprehensive skills, because being a good lawyer requires you to really know the law and how it works, and you would have to remember a lot of stuff you read and did in law school.
12. What type of training/degrees must you obtain to “move up the ladder” in this career (promotions etc.)?
To “move up the ladder” you would just need more and more experience.
13. Name 3 traits you have that would make this career a good fit for you.
I am very good at arguing, remembering stuff I read and I love complex ideas and problems.
14. What is the average annual pay for a career like this?
Translate that to hourly pay. For the entry wage it would be about $36 an hour, for and medium wage it would be about $56 an hour and for an experienced wage it would be about $80+ an hour.
15. How can you move up the pay scale in this career?
More and more experience.
16. What type of hours will you have to work? Would there be any travel involved?
They usually work 9 hours a day and up to 50 hours a week.
17. Is this career one that is growing in the U.S.?
Yes, because poverty and drug addictions are not going away, and these are two of the most common reasons that people commit crimes in our society.
18. Name 3 careers that go hand-in-hand with the one you have selected.
Court Clerk, Editor and Judge.
Summary: Based on what you discovered about this career, is it still one you think you would like to pursue? Why did you answer this way and what do you expect to get out of this career? (answer should be 2 or more paragraphs long)
Being a Criminal Lawyer is a lot different than what I thought it was, I thought that it was just what you see on TV and I thought all they did was what they do in court. After this research I actually find it more interesting than I did before. I found out that they do a lot “behind the scenes” that I think is really cool, they get to go talk to psychological professionals and other areas in this field to really get a good case. The only thing I would not like to do is defend someone that I knew was guilty, that would be really hard for me to do.
I expect a lot of chaos, and long nights staying up finding loop holes in the law. I still want to be a lawyer because I think I would be really good at it, and I would enjoy it. Lawyers also make good money, and that would be a very good thing. Being in a career that I enjoy is also very important for me, and I think this one would be a good choice for me because I would enjoy most everything about this career.
Sites I Used
http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/freeform/publicwelcome?opendocument
http://www.careercruising.com/Main/Index.aspx?LoginID=b1228e9a-3fde-4f2e-8a82-c086a1f0440d-