Biggest Misconceptions about becoming and being a Lawyer

In movies and on TV, lawyers are often portrayed as two-dimensional characters with rigid personalities. They are either ruthless sharks out for blood or saints who always put their clients first. The truth is that being a lawyer is one of the most complex and challenging professions out there. It’s not all about winning cases or making money – in fact, many new lawyers find themselves struggling to make ends meet in the beginning. If you’re thinking of becoming a lawyer, it’s important to be aware of some of the biggest misconceptions people have about the profession.

1. You need to know how to write perfect essays for law school applications

This is one of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to law school applications. While essays may be a part of your application, they aren’t what make you successful in the end.

You don’t need to be a perfect writer to get accepted into law school; however, if you do have some experience writing (and reading) then that’s an advantage.

2. Lawyers are well off

This is actually a very common and completely understandable misconception. We associate the profession with big salaries, high profile cases and fancy offices – but these ideals often don’t match up with reality. Did you know that most lawyers will spend upwards of $100,000 to get through law school and the process to get admitted as a lawyer? Upon finishing those degrees, it’s rare to be making more than $100,000 straight out of the gate. Many people will have to work several years as an associate lawyer, assistant or paralegal before they can start bringing home those kinds of numbers.

In addition, lawyer salaries vary wildly depending on experience and location. In places where it’s tough to find jobs – like New York City – you can expect to pay a premium for very little work. On the other hand, in places like El Paso or Birmingham (AL), lawyers often make significantly less yet still have the ability to eventually make a decent quality of life.

Lawyers make all kinds of money and aren’t always well off at all!

3. All Lawyers wear suits and ties and go to court

Okay, this isn’t entirely true. Lawyers in the public sector that predominately litigate do often wear suits and go to court such as Crown attorneys or prosecutors – however, lawyers in the private sector are far less formal. Many times they may only have a casual relationship with their clients and don’t need to dress up for them at all! I generally wear business or smart casual in the office as I’m not in court everyday. In addition, if you look at TV shows like Law & Order, most of the lawyers are public sector attorneys. This is because it’s easy to dress them up in suits and send them off to court – however, most private sector lawyers are running around putting out fires all day long for clients who aren’t always on time or prepared.

Working as a lawyer doesn’t always mean you’ll be wearing a suit and going to court.

Some lawyers rarely ever go to court. Going to court also depends on the practice area a lawyer may practice. Some practices like personal injury law will go to court more than other areas like family law. Some lawyers have a more ‘solicitor’ based practice and may not litigate or go to court at all such as lawyers who primarily help with real estate conveyances or commercial transactions. For many areas of law, lawyers do little to no court work. If you’re in private practice, it really depends on the type of law you are practicing and what your clients want to spend their money on. Lawyers in certain areas of practice may not go to court at all or even appear before a judge. Even lawyers in private practice that work in criminal defence, family and personal injury law may not be in court all the time. Lawyers do research and spend most of their time behind a computer doing paperwork and writing briefs.

Some lawyers spend more time on their computers than others:)

4. All Lawyers work in a Large Law Firm

Once again, this is only partially true. Lawyers figure out where they want to practice when they get into university or during articling and then go from there. That said, many people who go to law school don’t know what area of law they want to pursue until after they start working! Many lawyers will start out working in a firm but then realize that the corporate firm structure isn’t for them and become sole practitioners or ’boutique’ lawyers later on in their career.

There are lawyers that decide to dedicate themselves to legal aid clinics. There are lawyers who work for themselves. There are lawyers who work in correctional facilities, crown attorney’s offices and federal government (to name a few) – these jobs may or may not be competitive depending on your province or territory.

Some lawyers also work as in-house counsel for corporations. In-house counsel are lawyers who work for companies to provide legal advice on a day to day basis. If you’re getting your law degree, think about what area of law that you are interested in and then perhaps exploring the different areas of practice for each field.

5. Law is all about making money!

No, no it isn’t. While money is a great thing – and there are many lawyers who make a lot of money – it’s not always the main reason people go to law school. For most people, they go because they enjoy practicing law and being a lawyer. As noted above, salaries often range for lawyers. Many articling students make only $14/hour (or less) which is barely above minimum wage for some provinces like British Columbia where the retail legal industry market is extremely competitive.

6. Lawyers are rich and snobby

Again, not always. Many lawyers work long hours and don’t make a lot of money – especially during their first years in practice. As noted above, this is because articling students and new lawyers often to do the ‘grunt’ (and dirty) work for senior lawyers who beat them up on billable hours. Most lawyers are not rich and live very normal lives.

They are also not snobby. Unless they’re in court, lawyers are usually very friendly people. They also know that they haven’t achieved anything yet – every time they win a case, it’s because of the client who hired them and their hard work!

7. Lawyers don’t settle, they ruthlessly fight and only care about billing clients

This is probably one of the most untrue assumptions about lawyers. Lawyers are not just machines that ruthlessly fight in court all day! Most lawyers are very decent people who genuinely care about their clients, but it’s hard not to have some sort of job resentment when you have to work 15-hour long days on a file for weeks or months at a time. Most lawyers are driven by their work ethic and want to do the best job they can for their clients, which is why it’s important for them to bill their clients in order to be compensated fairly.

Lawyers understand that many clients don’t want to spend all their money on legal costs and are obligated to confirm client’s instructions before taking certain actions or steps that will likely cost more or is outside of the original retainer.

Personally, I check with what my client really wants. If there is a dispute, it’s important to understand what the parties interests are, what’s most important to my client and is there a way for us to work something out so we don’t have to go through an extensive court process that may cost them more than they are able to spend. If a client is worried about cost, and tells you that they really do not want to go to court and would rather find a compromise, then you really should not try to go to court and bill them for it, otherwise the client will end up thinking that all you cared about was milking them for all they had and it leaves them with a sour experience of having a lawyer causing them to believe in this misconception and as a result they probably will not refer anyone else to you. Thus, there are times when lawyers do consider settling.

When it comes to negotiating a contract, it can actually be very rewarding when lawyers for all parties can work together to come up with an agreement that works for all. There always has to be one winner and one loser is also another absolutely false misconception!

8. Lawyers sit around all day and talk to each other about what good-looking fellows they are!

Ahem, no…they don’t. Lawyers spend most of their time behind a computer and phone. They may go to court or meet with clients and otherwise conduct business in person (or by video conferencing).

9. Lawyers can moonlight as bouncers!

Not really – but that would be awesome! In some provinces, the rules do allow lawyers to moonlight in certain areas. However, it isn’t that common for lawyers to do this unless they are self-employed or have joined a boutique law firm.

There are so many misconceptions out there about what it means to be a lawyer. It’s not just the job of wearing suits and going to court, but also that of working with clients, doing research, writing briefs and more! Being a lawyer can be incredibly rewarding – if you know how to do it right.

Having said all this, there are many benefits to studying law including the flexible work schedule, intellectual challenge involved in tackling legal issues, and problem solving abilities. While it isn’t the only way to become a lawyer, attending university is the most common route to law school. It also offers another aspect that many people don’t come across in their daily lives – critical thinking! Law school will help you develop logical reasoning, this analytical ability needed for practising law can be used in other fields as well. Law school isn’t for everyone. Likewise, being a lawyer isn’t for everyone either. All that said however – law is an exciting career choice that offers many opportunities to those who are interested in the profession!