If you’re interested in becoming a lawyer, it’s important to consider everything that this profession entails.
While it comes with several benefits, it also has its own set of challenges. Understanding both the pros and cons makes it easier to determine if you’re well-suited for this career path.
So in this article let’s take a look at what does a lawyer do and some benefits and drawbacks of being a lawyer to decide whether it is a good career option or not for you.
So let’s jump right in.
Table of Contents
Pros and cons of lawyer
Pros of lawyer
1. High paying job
One of the main advantages of becoming a lawyer is that you can get a high paying job.
According to bureau of labour statistics the average salary of a lawyer is around 127000$ which can be converted into 61 Dollars per hour.
In India, the range of salary that the law firms offers ranges all the way from Rs 25-30 lakh per annum to Rs 150-200 lakh.
Even for lawyers who have just graduated from college, there is a wide potential range from between Rs 5-10 lakh per year to Rs 18-20 lakh per year.
2. Strong network
Another advantage of being a lawyer is that you can have a strong network and connections with other people.
For example if you are a corporate lawyer then you can have a strong network and connections with the top leadership group of the company like CEO and other people who are in the top positions.
And because of such a strong network you can get many opportunities to grow in your career as well for example
you can get many clients through referrals and word of mouth marketing from your network.
3. You are in control
This is another advantage of being a lawyer is that you can have control of your time and money.
What I mean by this is that you are in control of which client you want to work with and when you want to work and at the same time you can also charge any amount you want for the clients.
4. Growing demand and good future
Another big advantage of being a lawyer is that the demand is constantly growing and the future is also good.
As a Matter of fact according to bureau of labour statistics the average growth of lawyers is 9 percent between 2020 to 2030.
At the same time, according to a report in the Economic Times, in countries like India there are 1.8 million lawyers Which means 1 lawyer for every 736 people.
This shows that being a lawyer is a good career which has a good demand and also has a good future.
5. Know your legal rights better
Another big advantage of being a lawyer is that you can know all of your legal rights as a citizen of your country and because of that knowledge you can stop getting fooled by other people, businesses, companies who try to influence you.
As a lawyer you can get to know when you are getting exploited by big brands.
Apart from that, because of knowing the legal rights better than normal people who are not very educated like you then you can also become a social activist and work for the betterment of the society and welfare of the people.
6. Wide career
Another big advantage of being a lawyer is that you can have a wide career and it can open you new doors and many opportunities in your career.
for example there are different categories of lawyer which you can become like,
- Corporate lawyer
- Criminal lawyer
- Government lawyer
- Immigration lawyer
- Intellectual property lawyer
- Family lawyer
- Associate general counsel
And there are many more career options and opportunities you can choose after becoming a lawyer which you can check out here in detail.
Because of such as wide scope and career option you can choose any one depending upon your interest and convenience and you can become an expert and experienced person in that and build a career in it.
7. Gain new skills
Another big advantage is that you can get many amazing skills after being a lawyer which you can apply in other fields of life like,
- You can learn communication skills
- You can learn networking skills
- You can learn negotiation skills
- You can learn time management skills
- You can learn people management skills
You can learn all of this important skills of life if you become a lawyer and also use them in other career options like real estate, etc.
8. Intellectual stimulation
Another big advantage of being a lawyer is that it is an intellectually stimulating job.
Most of the time every case you handle will be different from each other With different facts and results which is why this job demands a lot of intellectual stimulation.
You need to do a lot of research and study the case and spend a lot of time and think of new ways on how you can present your argument and win the case which can increase your critical thinking and creative thinking.
As a matter of fact sometimes because no other cases will be similar to each other It can also be a very exciting career, you can learn new things and you will feel less bored as being a lawyer.
9. Job satisfaction
Another big advantage of being a lawyer is that it can have a huge job satisfaction.
For example if you have got to handle a criminal case against someone who is not guilty and has not committed the crime then you can save a lot of his time by protecting him from going to jail and spend a couple of years there.
At the same time you can also fight for the poor against rich people or corporate people for their rights. And there are various other instances
where you can add immense value in the life of common people by helping them achieve justice in their life.
These are all the advantages of being a lawyer.
Cons of lawyer
1. Work load
One of the main disadvantages of being a lawyer is that you can have a huge workload on yourself and also a lot of stress.
On average the majority of the lawyers work around 50 hours per week.
Most of the lawyers spend most of their time studying and researching about the case and finding new facts and getting the new information about the case so that they can present their argument better in the court and win the case.
Because every other case can be quite new and different from each other it can also be quite mentally challenging profession because
you will have to meet and interact with new people every day for every other case and not all of your clients will be comfortable and adjust with you. Sometimes you might have to adjust according to your clients.
2. Constant learning is required
Another big disadvantage of being a lawyer is that you will have to constantly learn and evolve and grow your knowledge.
Because your profession deals with law and rules and regulations you have to keep yourself updated with all those rules and regulations constantly.
At the same time there are also new rules and regulations which are getting implemented, along with many rules and laws are removed and many amendments taking place in the constitution which you need to be aware off.
Because of this reason constant learning and consistently practicing your knowledge is very much important if you want to be a lawyer.
3. Mistakes can be costly
This is another big disadvantage which is related to the first one which is that the mistakes can be costly if you are lawyer.
There are some cases of your clients which are related to property issues or crime matters and if you do some mistake and get some error during your research and
do not present your argument properly in the court and lose the case, the client might also sue you for that matter.
This can seriously damage your public reputation & credibility as being a lawyer & stop getting clients in future.
Because of this, there is a very less room for mistakes if you are a lawyer because you have a huge responsibility of your client’s upon yourself you might sometimes also get anxiety and stress.
According to ALM’s Mental Health and Substance Abuse Survey. Despite the ‘efforts’ to take preventative actions,
Over 31% of lawyers experience depression, 64% have anxiety and stress, isolation, burnout, alcohol (10%) and substance abuse (3%) continue to do damage.
This clearly shows that there is also a lot of mental health problems which you might face after becoming a lawyer.
4. Expensive & long period of education
Another big disadvantage of trying to be a lawyer is that the education can be quite expensive & long to afford for the majority of students.
The average fees of doing law courses in India is around INR 1-3 lakh per year for bachelors and INR 1-2 lakh per year for LLM courses.
This is a bad thing if you already have taken a student loan to take your undergraduate degree. At the same time, if you want to become a lawyer in India you will have to study for more than 5 years.
5. Bad reputation
Another big disadvantage of being a lawyer is that it has a bad reputation somewhere in the society.
This is especially true in countries like India where people don’t like to work with lawyers and get their matter discussed in the court because they believe that the lawyers might delay the hearing and charge more money from them.
This is a misconception which majority of the Indians have in their mind regarding lawyers which cause a bad reputation of lawyers in the society.
6. Risky job
Another big disadvantage of being a lawyer is that it can be quite a risky profession.
For example if you are a criminal lawyer or a corporate lawyer then you can get life threatening calls from powerful people like politicians, businessmen or criminals if you handle any case which is against their interests and comfort.
Hence if you are a corporate lawyer or a criminal lawyer then you should be careful regarding which cases you choose.
7. Impact of technology
Due to technology everything is getting impacted including the lawyer profession,
Many legal procedures are made online now, like document reviewing, presentation, billing software, etc.
Apart from that with the growing technology there is a slow decline in the clients for the lawyers.
If a client seeks legal advice or counsel, they don’t always have to go to a lawyer for help. Recently, there’s been an increase in the number of self-service products,
self-help legal websites, legal document technicians and virtual law offices.
This is not a big problem in most cases but it can hurt your revenue if you are not always making money or not getting clients as you expected sometimes.
8. Competition
Can you name me any one career option which does not have some level of competition in it whatsoever.
You can’t right, almost every career option we know has some level of competition and being a lawyer is no exception to that.
At the same time thankfully, the profession of lawyers is still in demand and also has a good future which is why still many people choose lawyer in such a case
if you want to succeed then you have to be hard working and good with your skills and update them frequently.
9. You Can’t control your clients
This is another disadvantage we have when it comes to being a lawyer.
Because your livelihood and your earning will depend upon your clients and we all know that all of the human beings are different from each other so
some of your clients would not have a similar background like you do and might have different attitude, mindset, background which can create problems for you in future.
Sometimes in order to earn some money many lawyers might take the case of criminals who have committed crime and
try to defend and win the case in their favour even if they don’t like it internally or you might have to engage with your clients who are homeless, jobless, humble or extremely rich and egoistic on the other side.
This can be both exciting and frustrating as well sometimes.
These are all the benefits and drawbacks of being a lawyer.
Is being a lawyer worth it?
After reading all the advantages and disadvantages of being a lawyer I still believe that being a lawyer is definitely worth it not for everyone but for some people just like every other career.
You should know that there are many popular games like football which is a global sport with a huge audience base but not everyone can become a footballer and
reach great heights like Cristiano Ronaldo did at the same time not everyone can become a lawyer and achieve great heights.
My advice would be that you should not choose lawyer as your career option because it provides you a good income,
you should rather choose lawyer as your career if you like the process and help people and you are good at speaking with people and conveying your message properly,
you like to do extensive research and like to participate in debates, you have good critical and analytical thinking skills etc
With that said let’s conclude the article.
Conclusion
These are all the things you need to know about pros and cons of becoming a lawyer and is it worth it.
Do let me know if you like to be a lawyer in the future or not in the comment section below.
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