Lawyer Career Path: Is Law a Good Career Option in India?

Are you a good public speaker and have compassion for people? Having a career as a lawyer can be a good option for you. Let’s see what all you need to consider while taking a lawyer career path from a Bharuch-based lawyer with more than 30 years of experience.

Lawyer Career Path What is the best career in law


1.  Lawyer Career Path: What is the Role of a Lawyer?

Professional lawyers practise general cases and represent them and their legal documents in both civil and criminal cases. They provide legal advice to their clients  and give them solutions. They also prepare all the legalities and finally, appear in the court on the behalf of their client.

what is the role of a lawyer

Contents: Jump to Section

1.1 Industry/Sector
1.2 Social Image
1.3 Reasons to Become a Lawyer
2.1 Personality Traits Required
2.2 Physical Demands
2.3 Psychological Demands
3.1 Extra Curricular Activities Recommended
3.2 Related Hobbies to Take Up
3.3 Related Movies/ TV Shows
3.4 Related Fiction to Read/ Novels
4.1 Part-Time Options
4.2 Traveling Required
4.3 Average Workday/What to Expect
5.1 Retirement Prospects
5.2 Threats from Automation
5.3 Common Reasons for People to Quit

1.1 Industry Sector

MNCs & government sectors

There is a great opportunity for lawyers in all different sectors around the world. Large companies and enterprises give employment to law professionals as a key profession in their company. Also, governments employ them in local government offices, federal departments, finance, administration, private industries, and so on.

lawyer career path law role

1.2 Social Image

Extremely respectable

As soon as you introduce yourself as a lawyer, you get all the attention from people as it is an extremely respectable and valuable profession socially. Due to their awesome communication skills, lawyers can easily get connected to people around them. Also, being in the law field is globally recognized and you can go anywhere in the world for jobs.

1.3 Reasons to Be a Lawyer

Very satisfactory & rewarding

When you choose a lawyer career path, there are so many options to decide from being a lawyer, advocate to law firm partner, and legal advisor. We all know, in every profession sufficient experience is required to gain higher positions. So, while working as a general lawyer to being a professional lawyer in a particular subject, you will need that much experience. Your salary will be according to your position in the law field. And you can choose your position accordingly, where your passion lies.

Is lawyer a good career What are the career opportunities in law

2. What It Takes to Be a Lawyer

2.1 Key Personality Traits Required

There are some important personality traits that are required in a lawyer career path. Although through relevant internships and training, you can develop other skills as per the demand and need of the profession. It also depends on how passionately you are working and how committed you are to your profession. Some traits like excellent decision-making, efficiency in problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, sympathy towards your clients, and good research skills are the most important.

2.2 Physical Demands

Long working hours

The most demanding trait is that you must able to work for long hours in court and in your office for research work. You may also need to work for extended hours meeting clients, or having video conferences with them. Along with that, your writing ability should be excellent, plus you will need to travel a lot to meet the clients or to go to different courts according to the case.

Long-working-hours-demands-in-lawyer-career-path-advocate

2.3 Psychological Demands

Meeting deadlines and handling clients

You should have traits such as good communication skills, patience, creativity, the ability to handle different clients’ demands, tackling stressful deadlines, and most importantly, time management is necessary for this profession. If you are able to handle all these challenges, then you will have an interesting life on a daily basis with something new to gain every day.

3. How to Build Interest in a Law Career

3.1 Extra-Curricular Activities Recommended

Nowadays, we can easily turn our hobby into a profession. It is extremely easy to learn more about a profession. To know more about law career in detail, you can watch YouTube videos of Nalsa (National Legal Services Authority). These videos will help you increase your knowledge about how lawyers and legal authorities work in reality.

3.2 Related Hobbies to Take Up

To be a lawyer, you can start preparing from high school only. Like you can participate in various school activities, for example, debates, volunteer in various events, and join social clubs as well. Apart from this, you can also sharpen your mind while playing chess, cricket, and reading books. And once in a while, you must travel to various places that will teach you patience.

3.3 Related Movies/ TV Shows

Mahabharat, Pink

You can choose any movies and TV shows like Law and Order, Jolly LLB 1 & 2, The Practice, Pink, The Court, and so on. In addition, you must watch Mahabharat and get more knowledge about the ethics of the lawyer career path.

3.4 Related Fiction to Read/ Novels

Osho Rajneesh book

Books are a very good option if you want to start your career in law. By reading different books regarding this profession, you can understand your law degree more clearly. Plus, you can handle various situations by taking ideas and examples from these books. Some suggested law books to start, for example, include Osho Rajneesh Book, Law School Confidential by Robert H Miller, The Rule of Law by Tom Bingham, and many more.

famous personality books law related novels

4. Life as a Lawyer

4.1 Part-time Options

Yes

Absolutely, you can work part-time in the law profession. You can be a professor in college and work part-time at a law firm. Plus, you will be doing internships and part-time jobs while pursuing your law degree. So, it will help you a lot to achieve your goals.

4.2 Travelling Requirements

Excessive travelling

As we see, a law career is a very demanding profession. You have to travel to various places around the city or maybe to different states. Whether it is meeting new clients at their places or to fight the case in various courts, you must travel. And once you have gained popularity, you will only have to travel to different courts and not to people as they will directly come to you.

4.3 Average Workday /  What to Expect

9-15 hour workdays

Being a lawyer, you don’t have any specific working hours. It depends on which position you are working in and where you are working. Primarily, you have to work around 7-8 hours in the beginning of your career as an intern. And when you join any law firm, working hours will depend on which type of law firm you are working with. So, that can be from 8-9 hours to 12-15 hours, according to the case. However, if you are planning to start your own law firm, you can expect to work hours around 7-9 hours. The more you do research work, the more you will gain knowledge in this field.

On the daily basis, the lawyer career path involves many different duties to perform. For example, counseling clients, preparing legal documents based on specific cases, negotiating agreements, research work regarding the law, and preparing legal documents. Lastly, their work also includes preparing for hearings in the court.

court room extra stressful meeting dealines

5. Future of a Career in Your Field

5.1 Retirement Prospects

Politics, legal advisors

You can get retirement mostly after age 60. Although, as a lawyer, you never retire as after the retirement age, you can use all your experience and knowledge as your untold treasure. You can always be a writer, legal advisor, social welfare worker, or you can also join politics. So, there are some good options for you after retirement.

5.2 Threats from Automation

No

There are no threats from AI & automation in the field of lawyer’s profession and not even in the future. Also, this profession needs actual intelligence plus AI and automation are helping lawyers and making their work easier. It can help law firms, for example, in documenting files, research work, client intake, and much more.

5.3 Common Reasons for People to Quit

When you choose the lawyer career path, there are many roles you have to play and responsibilities that you have to take up, not limited to India but anywhere around the world. Most people quit this profession due to stressful deadlines, client demands, and pressure from higher authorities. Plus working for more than 9-10 hours daily without any weekends and holidays can be stressful. Generally, these all things make people leave this job. Also, if you are not mentally prepared for all roles like decision making, communication and problem solving, you can get a hard time adjusting in the law field.

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Curated & Edited by Aayushi Berawala (CareerNuts Staff)

Read next:

How to Become a Lawyer in India

Highly respected in society, a career in law could be a great choice for those who love to do social work! Here’s all you need to know about how to become a lawyer in India. Nadim Mohammad Shaikh, a Bharuch-based lawyer talks about the qualifications, courses, entrance exams, career prospects, and more!

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