Top 20 Reasons Why There Is No Better Profession Than Practicing Law

The law industry is often portrayed in a very negative light. Lawyers lie, and you can't trust them. They only care about money and are constantly stressed. But in reality, there are many good reasons to practice law. Honestly, I think it's one of the best jobs there are.
 

In this article, you will find out why law practice can be your best bet to earn wealth, prestige, stability while also having a variety of job opportunities and the possibility to also involve yourself in issues that matter to you.


Of course, the employability and perks of attorneys fluctuate with the economy. When the economy is low, only the best law students from the top schools can secure a job, but it is the same with any other profession. Still, some lawyers or law students like to focus only on the negatives. Maybe it comes with the field; after all, you are trained, paid, and usually spend whole days looking for the faults in everything. You have to bill too many hours; you have to work over the weekend. Sometimes, the industry is too competitive, and the demands too high. But if you really look at it closely, the positives in the legal industry far outweigh the negatives.

Here Are the Top 20 Reasons Why the Law Is the Best Job You Can Have:

 

1. Earning more money than in most other professions
2. Being respected by others
3. A license to start an in-demand business
4. The opportunity to work with interesting or important people
5. The ability to change practice settings
6. The opportunity to drive change in society
7. Working with great minds
8. Using problem-solving daily
9. The ability to focus on topics you are interested in
10. Being able to work until any age
11. The possibility of continuous improvement until near excellence
12. The chance to get extremely rich
13. The chance to get famous
14. Easy transition to politics
15. Flexibility
16. The possibility of achieving a lot in your life
17. Being paid for writing
18. Being paid for arguing
19. Transferrable skills
20. Selling to different types of people

Most Lawyers Earn More Money Than They Would in Other Professions

Attorneys earn much more money than they would if they chose a different path. If you go to law school, the odds are that you're going to earn more money than if you hadn't gone to law school. It doesn't mean you're going to earn more money than every other lawyer, but you're probably going to make more than most other people.

And the thing is, almost anyone can get into and graduate from a law school and become a lawyer. It takes some time and effort to do so, but you don't need a special talent. There is no extensive math or science that would stand in your way to get licensed. Before school, many lawyers studied humanities or liberal arts, which often do not lead to a well-paying job. But you can get into law school with any specialization and, once you get out, you can have a six-figure paying job with skills that wouldn't be worth even close to that anywhere else. If you don't know what to do with your life after college, law school is one of the best places to choose for your future. Attorneys are among the best-paid professionals in our country, with an average salary exceeding 100 thousand dollars.

The Legal Profession Is (Usually) Respected by the Society

Attorneys usually command the respect of society and are often looked up to. Judges, politicians, and other government employees often started as attorneys. Almost 50% of the people in Congress are attorneys, about 10% of chief executive officers have been attorneys. Many people in power are attorneys, and they go into very respected positions. And even in my own small community, I've been asked to lead community boards and take charge in other areas because I'm a lawyer. People always want your help once you tell them that you are a lawyer.

Lawyers have the power to help people, so they are always asked for advice. Lawyers represent truth, justice, and fairness, so it is no surprise that people look at us with respect. Whatever background you come out of, you will have a great deal of respect and admiration from others once you become a lawyer.

A Law Degree Gives You a License to Start an in-Demand Business.

Many people do not understand this, but a law degree gives you the license to start your own legal business. You can set up your office wherever you want, advertise or spread the word around that you are providing legal services and charge a lot. You can decide your rate, the cases you take on, and your hours. The opportunities are just waiting for you. Legal services are always in demand if you know how to market yourself. If you do it well, you won't even have to network or go out of your way to find people. Clients will find you on their own.

The great thing about a legal business is that you are essentially protected from competition. Since you must have a degree to practice law, you won't have countless other law offices open across the street from you like you would if you opened a restaurant or a coffee shop. Moreover, if you specialize in one type of law, the chances of another practice opening near you that specializes in the same thing are pretty low. If you don't mind living in a smaller town with a small market, you might even be able to take over an established practice of some retiring lawyer with regular clients and zero competition. Or get an annual subsidy to live and work in places with a severe lack of attorneys like they do in South Dakota.

You Can Work with Interesting or Important People as a Lawyer

The legal work itself can be fascinating, but you can also work with important or interesting people.

The first few weeks after I got my law license, I worked for a company on a case looking through some documents about a classified submarine that they built and sold to a South American government. There's not a lot of professions where you'll get to do that kind of work. Your clients can be governments, international corporations, or famous entrepreneurs.

"Regular" people are also interesting on their own. Everybody has their unique motives, worldviews, issues, and doubts to uncover and try to understand when you represent them. As a lawyer, you have a unique opportunity to look into the mind of many special individuals.

The Ability to Change Practice Areas Easily

When you practice law, you can transition between and among all sorts of different settings.

You can start in government or law practice, and then you can change and go in-house or start practicing your own. You can work as a law professor. There are so many different opportunities and settings that attorneys can work in; it's amazing.

If you are smart enough and learn how to move around in the legal industry, you can become partners in the top legal firms in Los Angeles or New York or become a dean or a faculty of law at a great university. Kathleen Sullivan, for instance, started as a law professor at Harvard and worked herself up to be a partner in one of the best firms in New York, representing some of the biggest and wealthiest companies there are.

The Opportunity to Drive Change in Society

Lawyers also have the opportunities to make major changes in law affecting the way society operates. Most other career paths do not offer that chance to have such an impact on their world. You can focus your energy on representing underprivileged people. You can help free people that may have been convicted of something wrongfully, or you can empower minority groups. You can even influence the function of entire governments, and there's really no other occupation where you can do those kinds of opportunities.

You can get involved and help with alternative parenting initiatives, people in areas suffering after a natural disaster, assist youth from at-risk families or minorities, or deal with environmental issues. You can choose the closest issues and be the driver of the change for a better world. There are not that many other industries where you can do this.

Working with Great Minds

Another thing that is pretty cool in the legal profession is that you really get to work with many smart and great minds as an attorney. Most lawyers are intelligent, and using their minds every day keeps them sharp. Interacting with people of this caliber will keep your mind occupied, open to new ideas. As a lawyer, you have the opportunity to work in mind-challenging environments throughout your entire career.

Most lawyers were surrounded by sharp and motivated people when they were in law school. After spending years with interesting and competitive people discussing issues in class, you get used to the intellectual level and stimulation that will keep you sharp well into your retirement years.

Using Problem-Solving Daily

Legal work is very analytical, so you have to solve problems and think through issues all the time. Your main job is coming up with solutions and, while it is quite academic work, you're getting a nice income for some of the cases. While doing this kind of work, you develop skills to break down and work through complex issues and develop acceptable solutions even when there are none at the beginning.

Such skills often prove valuable when you go into politics or into an executive function, which is maybe why so many attorneys choose this route later in their career. These skills and qualities are what make lawyers good counselors.

The Ability to Focus On Topics You Are Interested In

Law is not just one thing that everyone does in the same way. There are many different types of work you can specialize in. If you're interested in corporate law, environmental law, litigation, or anything else, you can do that. There are not that many professions where you can find an aspect you enjoy the most about the work, specialize in it, and spend the rest of your career focusing on that.

If you, for instance, enjoy arguing cases in court during trials, you have several options. You can either become a prosecutor or a public defender. Or, if you want to become a lawyer, you can focus your energy on becoming really good in the courtroom so that you are an expert that other attorneys seek out when they need help. You have a unique chance to really focus on what you love.

Being Able to Work as a Lawyer Until Any Age

Before law school, I used to work manually in the asphalt industry. If I stayed there and didn't become a lawyer, I could work until maybe forty. After that, the hard labor, toxic fumes, and constant sun exposure would take their toll on me. I would be left looking for something different.

Being a lawyer is something completely different. Especially if you have your own practice, you can work as long as your mind is still sharp and you feel like you maintain the pace. I know attorneys that are in their nineties and still practicing. There is really no expiry date on the legal job if your mind can still handle it. If you enjoy your work, why retire when you can continue doing what you love? Moreover, constantly challenging your mind even late in life helps keep your mind sharp, so you are doing your health and cognitive functions a favor.

The Possibility of Continuous Improvement Until Near Excellence

This ties a bit with the previous point, but the longer you practice law, the better you get at it. In some professions, your skills might deteriorate with age, especially if you work manually. However, you can only get better in law. You can learn more about the law every day, figure out how to deal with people you have to collaborate with, form relationships and a reputation that helps you in your job, and gain the experience essential for doing good in this profession.

The Chance to Get Extremely Rich

When you become a lawyer, you get the opportunity to become extraordinarily rich. You can earn a lot of money working in large law firms, becoming a partner in such firms, win a huge case or class action against some big corporations. There are so many different paths that can lead you to wealth and millions of dollars as a lawyer.

Lawyer Joel Jamail Jr., for instance, focused his career on issues concerning personal injury and was able to earn almost 350 million dollars in a single case. Not every lawyer can earn such wealth, of course, but the opportunity is there and, if you learn how to swim in legal careers, you can become wealthy.

The Chance to Get Famous

Many attorneys become famous later on in their legal careers. Hillary Clinton, Jerry Springer, or Barack Obama all started as lawyers, and they are just the tip of the iceberg of famous people with law degrees.

While practicing law, attorneys gain lawyer skills, such as the ability to work under stress, persuade people, understand complex issues, and come up with solutions. These then help them in other high-profile jobs like politics, entertainment, or media, in which they can gain fame.

Law shows are top-rated, and many lawyers leave their law jobs to help in the production of law TV shows or movies or have their own shows, such as Judge Judy.

Easy Transition to Politics

While you don't need to become a lawyer to get into politics, the skills, training, and prestige you get when you become a lawyer can help you succeed. So, it's not a surprise that the majority of U.S. presidents have been attorneys. Your odds of transitioning are pretty good, probably better than with any other profession.

Flexibility in the Legal Career

As an attorney, you can bring a lot of flexibility into your legal career. You can often choose the setting and manner in which you prefer to work. Some attorneys work part-time, based on contracts, or full-time in a firm. You can also work remotely from some seaside area or come into the office only a few days a week. There are already completely virtual law firms, which don't even have a centralized office. As a lawyer, you can often choose to work hours that suit you and choose the cases you spend your time on. You cannot find such flexibility in many other jobs.

The Possibility of Achieving More in Your Life

When you look at the legal industry and what many lawyers achieved in their legal careers, there's no major ceiling in this field of work. You can go very far with practicing law if you want to. You can start at a tiny firm, even in a rural area, and through a lot of hard work and other factors, you can wind up in a major law firm and do very well, even without the top law schools on your record. Practicing law allows you to go as far as you want, whether it is a federal judge, a famous author, or a partner in big law firms.

Being Paid for Writing

If you love writing, becoming a lawyer is a great outlet for that. There are many instances in the legal world in which writing skills are essential to a good outcome. You write motions, appeals, law-related articles, and many other types of texts that can influence the outcome of a case or convince the judge to consider other options.

So, if you love figuring out the core of the issue and then writing up a concise, understandable version of it, the law is something for you. It's not a surprise that some well-known authors started as attorneys, such as John Grisham. Becoming a lawyer can allow you to be paid good money for doing what you love - writing.
 

Being Paid for Arguing

Some attorneys love writing, some love arguing. And you can secure an income for doing both. Some lawyers really have a talent for arguing in court. It doesn't really matter what the topic of the case is; you can see on their face that when they stand in front of the judge, their opponent, or the jury, they are in their element. They are confident, quick on their feet, and can smash any opponent's argument with a well-thought-out response. If you are good at and enjoy this, you will get paid good money doing what you love as a lawyer.

Transferrable Skills

This has already been touched on in several other points, but lawyers have many skills that are very useful in other jobs. Attorneys are often very determined, hard-working, and have great attention to detail, which is valuable in any job. They also know how to deal with people, so they often go into sales, politics, media, marketing, or business. Many have very entrepreneurial personalities, so that they might focus on that. Working in the legal environment combined with a love for writing also often leads attorneys to become authors or producers of law-related entertainment content.
 

Selling to Different Types of People

This line of work is built on salesmanship. When you offer your services to a client, you are essentially selling yourself to them, and you want to outsell all your competition. You also sell your clients' side of things to judges and juries all the time. There is really no better profession to use your sales skills with so many different types of people.
 

Conclusions

Like any other profession, becoming a lawyer has some negatives you often hear about. However, there are so many positives that it is among the best jobs there are. You don't need any special talent to become a lawyer, and it opens so many doors for you. You can get really far in life if you become a lawyer, and the skills you learn while doing it can be easily transferred to many other prestigious jobs. There are so many opportunities in this wonderful job.

See also:
 

• Market Reality of a Virtual Law Firm
• Do Small Firms Like Attorneys That Start Out at Big Law Firms?
• Why the Best Executives Are So Highly Paid
• Resist the Temptation to Cut Corners in Your Career.
• Your Job Search Is a Marketing Operation and You Are the Product