An attorney in law is an advocate who works with an individual, a corporation, an organization, or the government for a cause. Lawyers are known as advocates because they argue on behalf of their client in front of a jury or judge. From corporate litigators to criminal defense attorneys to prosecutors, there are a multitude of roles that a lawyer can take on.

In order to become an attorney in law in the United States, one must graduate from an accredited four-year undergraduate institution and graduate from one of the accredited 278 law schools in the United States. After finishing law school, one must take and pass the bar exam. The bar exam is a very taxing exam, and nearly one-half of test-takers fail during their first try.

After passing the bar exam, one must register with the American Bar Association in order to take a character and fitness test. Most lawyers admit that the character and fitness test was one of the hardest parts about become an attorney since the test is extremely probing and the Bar Association discovers everything about a person—his/her credit history, his/her employment history, his/her past, and whether he/she have any black marks in his/her past. If the Bar Association discovers something scandalous in one’s past and it turns out that the applicant did not disclose the information in their law school application, the law school can revoke the applicant’s degree, which basically terminates the applicant’s law career. After passing the Bar Exam and the Character and Fitness Test, the applicant then has the opportunity to become a member of their state bar association and officially practice law.

If one seeks to become a lawyer, one of the most important skills to develop is writing and research skills. Don’t be fooled by Hollywood and television programs, such as Law and Order: the vast majority of lawyers spend most of their time reading legal tomes and editing legal drafts, and oral advocacy constitutes a small fraction of their work. Some lawyers, especially contract lawyers, spend almost no time doing oral advocacy.

 Lawyering is one of the most lucrative professions in the United Stations. Indeed, the median salary for a first-year attorney is about $65,000. But the median salary for lawyers overall is $102,470. However, first-year lawyers who graduate from the very best law schools and work in a competitive law firm can expect a first-year salary of over $120,000.