Hopefully, the small pool of Hispanic lawyers and legal profes- In criminal law, lawyers represent individuals who have been
sionals will grow in the future. Back in 1990, Hispanics received charged with crimes and argue their cases in courts of law.
only 4 percent of the law degrees being granted throughout the Attorneys dealing with civil law assist clients with litigation, wills,
United States. But in 2004, the figure was up to 7 percent. And at trusts, contracts, mortgages, titles, and leases. Other lawyers handle
some California law schools, the numbers are even higher: Boalt only public-interest cases—civil or criminal—concentrating on par-
Hall at UC Berkeley estimates that about 10 percent of its student ticular causes and choosing cases that might have an impact on the
body is Hispanic. The only good news is that there will be many way law is applied. Lawyers are sometimes employed full time by a
great opportunities for Hispanics who pursue careers in the legal single client. If the client is a corporation, the lawyer is known as
profession. If you are qualified, employers will likely be competing “house counsel” and usually advises the company concerning legal
to have you become a part of their “dream team.” issues related to its business activities. These issues might involve
There are many different jobs associated with protecting our patents, government regulations, contracts with other companies,
rights and serving justice. In order to operate smoothly, the legal property interests, or collective bargaining agreements with unions.
profession needs various professionals to keep the system moving, A significant number of other attorneys are employed at the
including lawyers, judges, paralegals, court reporters, court inter- various levels of government. Government lawyers also help devel-
preters, legal secretaries, law clerks, administrators and support op programs, draft and interpret laws and legislation, establish
staff. These jobs are open to people with diverse backgrounds and enforcement procedures, and argue civil and criminal cases on
various levels of education. If you are interested in the law, you can behalf of the government. Some work for State attorneys general,
find an interesting career even if you don’t want to commit 7 years prosecutors, and public defenders in criminal courts. At the Federal
to become a lawyer. level, attorneys investigate cases for the U.S. Department of Justice
Work in the legal profession can be tremendously challenging and other agencies. Many other attorneys are employed in govern-
and fulfilling. You are often directly involved in making a difference, ment at the local level.
affecting people’s lives and you may even be fortunate enough to be Other lawyers work for legal aid societies—private, nonprofit
involved in important cases or in setting legal precedents. It can be organizations established to serve disadvantaged people. These
financially quite lucrative as well. Recent estimates from the US lawyers generally handle civil, rather than criminal, cases. This area
Dept of Labor report the median annual wage of lawyers at may not be as lucrative, but it always needs attorneys. This is anoth-
$106,120. Of course, many lawyers earn much more than that, er great way to gain experience and it can be very rewarding to be
depending on their specialty and the firm that they work for. of service in this area.
Paralegals and legal assistants can make about half of that with only Lawyers may also decide to ‘give back’ by teaching, joining the
an associates or bachelor’s degree and/or certification and training. faculty of law schools. Some others may decide to approach the
Court reporters and court interpreters can also earn a sizeable bench and become judges.
income, depending on how much they want to work (Also see our
article in this issue on Court Interpreters). Education/Training
Formal requirements to become a lawyer usually include a 4-
LAWYERS year college degree, 3 years of law school, and passing a written bar
Lawyers, also called attorneys, act as both advocates and advi- examination. Federal courts and agencies set their own qualifica-
sors in our society. As advocates, they represent one of the parties tions for those practicing before or in them.
in criminal and civil trials by presenting evidence and arguing in Although there is no recommended “prelaw” undergraduate
court to support their client. As advisors, lawyers counsel their major, prospective lawyers should develop proficiency in writing and
clients about their legal rights and obligations and suggest particu- speaking, reading, researching, analyzing, and thinking logically.
lar courses of action in business and personal matters. Lawyers Courses in English, foreign languages, public speaking, govern-
research the intent of laws and judicial decisions and apply the law ment, philosophy, history, economics, mathematics, and computer
to the specific circumstances faced by their clients.
The more detailed aspects of a lawyer’s job depend upon his or
her field of specialization and position. There is a wide array of dif-
ferent areas to choose from; anything from being a trial lawyer to a
tax lawyer, from a corporate lawyer to a public defender or to pub-
lic interest law, or newer specialties such as environmental law,
immigration law and intellectual property.
Basically, there are two main divisions within law; civil and
criminal. Civil law has several subdivisions including corporate law,
communications law, entertainment law, labor law, divorce law, real
estate law, and bankruptcy law to name a few. Criminal cases
involve either misdemeanor or felony offenses.
Some lawyers rarely work in a courtroom. Trial lawyers, who
do, specialize in trial work, must be able to think quickly and speak
with ease and authority. They must know courtroom rules and strat-
egy. Still, trial lawyers actually spend the majority of their time out-
side the courtroom, conducting research, interviewing clients and
witnesses, and handling other details in preparation for a trial.
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