Criminal Law Lawyer? (or something like that)?
Question by Vengeance: Criminal Law Lawyer? (or something like that)?
I’ve recently become a bit curious with becoming a lawyer. I’m interested in the Criminal Justice field though, so I want to explore something with criminal justice and being a lawyer for it.
-What type of lawyers are there that do things retaining to “criminal justice”? (I can’t think of any other way to phrase this…)
-Can you find a site or maybe personal experience, on what these lawyers do daily. (General things)
-Would you say it’s worth being a lawyer in this field? (only if you know personally)
-Anything else you think might be useful for me.
Thank you!
Best answer:
Answer by Jaylene
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What do you think? Answer below!
December 14th, 2011 at 10:11 pm
People with JDs (just a standard law degree) can practice pretty much any type of law they choose, criminal law included.
What criminal attorneys do on a daily basis depends on where they work and whether they work as a defense attorney (for private companies) or as a public attorney (public defenders and prosecutors). Private attorneys often specialize on highly technical sub-fields of criminal law. It’s not uncommon for large firms to have attorneys who do nothing more than draft memos (typically less experienced attorneys), focus on certain fields (murder, sex crimes, constitutional issues), and who deal with specialized clients.
Is it worth it – if you like it. I know that’s nebulous, but there is no other way to really explain it.
The blog below is funny, depressing, and fairly accurate.
December 14th, 2011 at 10:26 pm
Well, if you want to go into criminal law, you could be elected in your state or be hired by the US government agencies to prosecute crimes on behalf of the government (depending on whether or not you want to deal with state criminal law or federal criminal law), could be hired as a public defender (basically a criminal defense attorney for those who can’t afford one) for the same entities, or you could be in private practice as a criminal defense attorney.
Here is a starting point and then use google or yahoo: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos053.htm
As I am changing from pre-med to pre-law and don’t have any experience, I can’t answer one question you asked.
December 14th, 2011 at 11:13 pm
In criminal law, you can either be a prosecutor or criminal defense attorney. Some prosecutors become criminal defense attorneys later in their career as it pays more.
Job description of a criminal defense attorney:
They represent people accused of crimes. These crimes range from driving under the influence (“DUI”), possession of illegal narcotics and domestic violence, to white-collar conspiracy, drug conspiracy and armed robbery.
Their job consists of meeting clients who are either appointed to them by the court or who hire them privately. They make an assessment of their client’s case and explain their options: either going to trial or taking a plea agreement. Unless a client is acquitted after a trial, they then assist them in obtaining the fairest possible sentence. Sometimes they will handle an appeal.
They are paid either by the client – in cases where they are privately retained – or by the state or federal government when they are appointed by the Court to represent someone.
On a day to day basis, they are either making an appearance in state or federal court. Alternatively, they are visiting a client in jail (where most of them are) or meeting clients in their office.
Less often, they talk to clients’ families or prosecutors on the phone.
Criminal law is a very tough field to be in. Not only are you having to deal with criminals on a daily basis but crime doesn’t necessarily happen from 9 to 5. You will get calls that a client is in jail at 2 in the morning. Being a prosecutor is not much better since you will have the same crazy hours but with less pay.
December 15th, 2011 at 12:11 am
Unless you have some serious trust fund cash in your pocket, or you really want to work for min. wage, stay away from criminal law prosecution side.
If you want to be beaten down and called a rat, definitely do defense side.
What about something like human rights or environmental law?
December 15th, 2011 at 12:59 am
You may want to look at the American Bar Association website http://www.abanet.org they have lots of info for those interested in the profession.
Lawyers who concentrate in criminal law can work for the state as prosecutors – “states attorney”, defense attorneys, or in the quasi-administrative workings of the judicial system or for one of the government agencies. Some will work with volunteer or public assistance groups to provide low cost legal services. Or you can open up your own firm defending those who have been accused of a crime.
December 15th, 2011 at 1:22 am
Warning! Jobs in the field of Law are drying up FAST!! This is not a good field to invest time and/or money into. This is a SHRINKING vocational field. Many reasons. THE main reason?……We simply have WAY TOO MANY Legal Professionals – we have a GLUT!! (“Legal Professionals” includes, but is not limited to: Attorneys/Lawyers, Paralegals, Legal Assistants, Legal Secretaries, Bailiffs, Court Reporters, etc, etc)
Regarding being a Paralegal: Employers (usually law firms) in the field of Law want employees with BACHELORS degrees. Those “certificates” aren’t worth the paper they are printed on – they are generally scams.
Even IF you finish law school, you won’t be able to find a job when you are done. Since this vocational field is shrinking, many new attorneys/lawyers are, themselves, having to work “down” as Paralegals, Legal Assistants, Legal Secretaries, Bailiffs, Court Reporters, etc, etc, to simply try to keep some of THEIR bills paid
Now... the law schools know this, but they won't tell you the truth >that the job market/economy is SATURATED with WAY TOO MANY Legal Professionals. Instead the schools will feed you a fairytale. AND the schools continue to recruit and churn out even MORE Legal Professionals………….
If you don’t believe me, then just do a SEARCH here on Yahoo Answers to see what other posters are saying about the current status of the field of Law.
If you want a JOB when you are done with your studies, consider and look into the field of HEALTHCARE!
Good luck.
(This was intended as personal opinion, and not intended to be used as legal advice.)