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A blog about law school, the legal profession, the legal industry, legal mentoring, and more...

What Does A Lawyer Do?

If you don’t have a lawyer in your life — be it a parent, relative, or friend — it can be difficult to know what exactly lawyers do. Even if you’re close with a lawyer, the legal profession is diverse, and legal careers can vary widely. Yet, if you’re interested in law school, it’s important to have an idea of what exactly you’re getting into before you dedicate the time, money, and effort required to earn a J.D. 

So, what does a lawyer do? It’s a simple question with a somewhat complicated answer. In short, a lawyer is a licensed professional who gives legal advice to clients. This advice can come in many forms, including making legal arguments in a courtroom, managing the legal requirements of a complex business transaction, or even writing the law. No lawyer’s day-to-day experience looks exactly the same, but almost every attorney career requires similar types of skills, such as public speaking,...

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Basics of the Legal Profession

What is a lawyer? 

We all know that lawyers are a type of legal professional, but so are paralegals, judges, and legislators. What, then, is a lawyer

A lawyer, more precisely known as an attorney, is a professional who is licensed under either state or federal law to give clients legal advice and represent them in legal matters. According to the American Bar Association (the official organization which regulates the legal profession), lawyers have two main duties: first, to uphold the law, and second, to protect the rights of their clients. 

This definition may seem broad, but it is important! Lawyers must be licensed in order to give legal advice, even outside of the courtroom or the boardroom, and bar associations take this rule very seriously. For a person who is not a licensed attorney to give legal advice to a paying client is known as the unauthorized practice of law. In many jurisdictions, the unauthorized practice of law is...

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