Why is the profession of a lawyer so attractive? Profession lawyer Is the profession of a lawyer relevant?

If you are “lost” in search of your calling, pay attention to how necessary and popular the profession of “lawyer” remains at all times. Its pros and cons are not as obvious as it seems at first glance. We will try to consider them in detail in this article.

Who are lawyers? What do they do, what duties do they perform?

A lawyer is a professional who guards the law. Having an excellent understanding of legal documentation, he protects the interests of citizens who turn to him for help. Of course, this is only the most general definition.

Lawyers working in ministries and departments are engaged in rule-making activities, that is, they directly “compose” and develop the wording of laws, regulations, and decrees. They also edit and revise the content of legal documents.

High-class lawyers work in court, prosecutor's office, police, FSB, supervisory authorities, as well as in tax and customs services. They protect public order, prevent and investigate crime.

A significant part of the “experts in the law” are engaged in defending the interests of commercial organizations. Large corporations and banks create full-fledged legal departments, which are tasked with:

1. Ensure that the company’s commercial transactions are properly executed from the point of view of Russian and international law.
2. Protect the interests of the company in court, participate in out-of-court settlement of disagreements with partners.

Lawyers in private practice receive citizens, helping with ordinary issues relating to inheritance, division of property, housing or tax disputes, and disagreements with employers.

Some graduates of law schools remain within the walls of their native academies and universities to teach special disciplines to future lawyers.

Experts with extensive experience also receive income from journalistic activities.

Whatever responsibilities the profession entails, it is important to analyze the pros and cons before you sign an employment contract.

What qualities are important to have?

A professional lawyer must have a special character and mentality to truly succeed in his field. What character traits distinguish a lawyer who confidently moves forward?

1. Learning ability. To become in demand in the legal services market, it is necessary to constantly replenish your knowledge base and scrupulously monitor changes in laws, regulations, and regulations. An experienced lawyer gets used to the complex, often ambiguous wording of documents.

2. Responsibility. The fate of a person, a family, and often a company with many thousands of employees depends on how well this specialist performs his tasks. It is important to be able to bear this burden and cope with it.

3. Stress resistance. A lawyer regularly has to “move mountains” in a short time frame, while making difficult decisions. Every step he takes must be taken impartially, carefully, with a cool head. It is very difficult not to panic and not be afraid of the consequences of your own mistakes, omissions, and rash actions.

4. Ability to work with people and inspire trust. A lawyer who is too modest, shy, and doubts everything is unlikely to succeed. It is important for people who find themselves in a difficult situation to receive a clear answer as to what can be done and how to protect the interests of their family and business. An unshakable confidence should be felt in the voice, demeanor, and intonation of a professional. This is what makes the profession of “lawyer” remarkable. Its pros and cons lie in the fact that a person who has decided to make money in the field of law is simply forced to become not only stronger, but also more attractive to people - potential clients.

5. Determination and perseverance. The one who does not give up wins - this is the principle of an excellent lawyer. A competent specialist, even in the most hopeless case, looks for clues to improve the situation for the client.

6. The ability to create a reputation for yourself. A lawyer's success largely depends on what people say about him. Professionals work on their image. To do this, they have to pay attention to many seemingly insignificant details. For potential clients, it matters what clothes a lawyer or legal adviser wears, what property he owns, and what people he knows.

Before turning to a specialist, people try to make inquiries about him. If it becomes known that things are not going very well for him (he lost several cases in a row, quarreled with an influential person, gets by on bread and water), they will be wary of going to him. However, it is too expensive and may cause distrust among people: they do not want to pay too much just for the status of an expert.

How to start a career as a lawyer

Secondary specialized education is not enough for a successful start. To get a good position and earn a decent living, it is important to obtain a higher education diploma. If it is not possible to enroll in the full-time department of a university, you should apply for evening or part-time studies. You can also study remotely on a commercial basis.

A high-quality and in-depth education will help you reliably find out what the pros and cons of the profession of “lawyer” are.

While already studying at school, it is important to take part in conferences on jurisprudence, making every effort to win. State universities often reserve one or two places for outstanding students, winners of city and regional intellectual competitions and Olympiads.

After several years of work, it will not matter which university and specialty you studied in, or under what circumstances you began to learn all the pros and cons of the “lawyer” profession. Having earned an excellent reputation, you will no longer lack the means to earn money.

What to do while studying at a university

It is important for a student who seriously wants to become a lawyer to take up all the part-time jobs and internships in his specialty that he can find. It is worth offering your services, initially free of charge, to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the prosecutor's office, and private legal consultations.

Having received your diploma, it is important not to stop at the achieved level, but to continue to improve your skills by studying in special courses for lawyers. If possible, it is worth enrolling in graduate school and earning a Ph.D.

While studying at a university, you should also try to write articles. The ability to formulate thoughts is a quality that is necessary for people whose profession is a lawyer. It is important to know the description and all the pros and cons of the specialty in advance.

Send texts for publication to various editors. Build a portfolio and carefully store documents confirming your professional experience.

How much do lawyers earn?

The initial income in the province is small: from 8 to 12 thousand rubles. per month. However, at the start of a career, it is important to earn not so much money as reputation, experience and experience interacting with clients.

Only after several years of continuous career do young lawyers, police officers, and prosecutors begin to understand all the pros and cons

With official confirmation of work experience in hand, a young professional can become a legal adviser in a bank or large corporation. Salary, depending on the capabilities of the company, will range from 15 to 50 thousand rubles.

Having taken the position of chief or deputy chief, you can receive from 30 to 120 thousand rubles. in the province.

How to earn more

In order to sell his services more often and at a higher price, a lawyer needs not only to improve his professional level, but also to be able to sell himself. It is important to be visible: expand your circle of acquaintances, talk unobtrusively in informal conversations, among other things, about what exactly you do.

New clients and employers can be found at seminars, exhibitions, and conferences. It is important to actively promote yourself: give speeches, express your point of view on current events, offer help.

If someone talks about a difficult situation, don't hesitate to first offer free, friendly advice on how best to proceed. Any casual acquaintance can become a client.

You can also increase your income many times over by developing a career as an international lawyer. By studying foreign languages ​​and international law, a competent legal specialist can become a very wealthy person.

This makes the profession of “lawyer” very attractive, the pros and cons of which are that the services of a competent specialist are always in great demand. Even if clients are ready to pay a round sum of fees, they do not always have the strength to work at night. And it is always difficult to refuse generous rewards.

Benefits of working as a lawyer

Each specialty has both attractive and repulsive aspects. Let's look at the main advantages of being a lawyer.

1. Interesting thing. This work is very creative. It develops intelligence, memory, attention.

2. Prestige. The name of any legal specialty is very nice to write on a business card. An accomplished professional lawyer can rightfully be proud of his position in society.

3. Excellent prospects. A lawyer in any industry has opportunities for development and growth.

4. A rapidly growing circle of acquaintances. Perhaps most of all, it is the profession of “lawyer” that requires constant close and prolonged contact with people. The pros and cons of this state of affairs are that, on the one hand, you get many “helpful” acquaintances who are ready to help, on the other hand, you have to constantly be open to communication, and this is very difficult.

5. Independence. Many lawyers work “for themselves”, being individual entrepreneurs. They manage their own time, both work and personal, and are not required to report to their superiors or follow orders.

6. Demand. A professional lawyer with experience is always very attractive to clients.

7. For international workers, the opportunity to travel without interrupting work is also a plus.

Disadvantages of the specialty

No matter how lucrative and prestigious the profession of “lawyer” may seem, its pros and cons are equally important and, perhaps, of equal value.

When trying to become an expert in any area of ​​law, it is important to have an idea of ​​the disadvantages of future work:

1. The daily activities of a lawyer involve the preparation of a large number of papers. To be able to complete work tasks, you need to be a methodical and consistent person, not afraid of boredom and routine.

2. A lawyer who does not strive for career heights, as a rule, maintains a low income for the entire period of his working life.

3. This job involves frequent stress. While defending the interests of one party, a lawyer invariably comes into conflict with the other. The tight deadlines dictated by the business world make work very difficult.

4. A lawyer in private practice, as a rule, does not have a guaranteed monthly income. You have to work hard to find clients.

5. Lawyers in the public service (government, prosecutor's office, police, FSB), as a rule, have irregular working hours. Many employees are required to perform night shifts.

6. Persons working in law enforcement agencies have to put their lives and health at risk.

7. Lawyers in the field of criminal law are required to regularly communicate with antisocial elements and visit prisons where there is a difficult atmosphere.

Conclusion

We hope that after reading the article it became clearer to you what the profession of “lawyer” is, what pros and cons are inherent in it.

When searching for your calling, be sure to listen to your intuition. Beware of following good advice from third parties if you feel that the path they suggest does not suit you.

When deciding which profession to choose, remember that only those people who do what they love achieve great success in life.

Photo from www.crlc38.org

The Law Society, the association of solicitors in England and Wales, has published a report on the future of the legal profession. Thus, in the next five years, global changes await all participants in the legal market: researchers explained why corporate lawyers will inevitably compete with consulting and what it is better for legal market specialists to prepare for now, so as not to “fall out” of the profession in a few years.

Teaching a program to understand the human language of contracts - this is the simple idea behind the Leverton start-up. A Berlin developer has come up with software that not only reads, but also correctly interprets confusing legal texts, helping company lawyers find answers to confusing questions in a matter of seconds. For example, this: who pays, the owner or the insurer, if a company purchased a shopping center, and three days later the roof collapsed due to snow? Previously, to answer this question, an in-house lawyer would have to spend several hours and re-read hundreds of pages of the contract. Leverton, which recognizes 18 languages, copes with this task in seconds. The program’s artificial intelligence learns with each new document, identifies duplicates and errors, and prepares reports on all terms of the agreement, which takes resource savings on large data sets to a new level.

New technologies are one of the main factors changing the legal profession. But it is far from the only one that will change the legal profession in the next five years. British researchers who published the report "The Future of the Legal Profession" identified four more drivers that everyone in the legal industry will face. The crisis requires everyone to provide better services for the same money. Competition is growing, in-house lawyers and consultants are thinking about how to save money without losing old clients, and increase volumes in a changing market. And to do this, you need to keep your finger on the pulse and look at things more broadly, without losing sight of the path of development of the profession, experts advise. Whatever the vector of development, it will be affected by:

• business environment,
• the way clients purchase legal services,
• technological innovations,
• the arrival of new participants in the market and new types of competition,
• political decisions, including those that increase access to justice.

Who won and who lost from the transformation

The speakers identified the main beneficiaries of these rapid changes: these are British and American businesses that have benefited from globalization. Today, however, growth in Western markets is largely driven by companies from developing countries, such as China, Russia or India. Lawyers will come after business, they fear in the UK, but they do not expect a quick turn to national firms and an outflow of work from international companies. In the best case, companies will feel the influence of their neighbors by 2022 - and then while maintaining business expansion, which is doubtful in the current economic situation, and also given that “the legal systems of countries expanding their influence will approach the Western model.” Until this happens, there is no need to seriously fear competition from foreign companies, we are confident in the United Kingdom.

However, outside its borders, foreign companies have to make room: “While some markets are opening up to foreigners, in others foreign firms are faced with increasing restrictions. In a number of countries, there are protectionist tendencies and a reluctance to allow the spread of English law,” admit the authors of the study. The latter, it would seem, has little relevance to Russia - here foreign lawyers can represent parties in courts, and the legal system has recently acquired an increasingly British accent (see " "). However, ILFs (from the English ILF - international law firm) encounter difficulties. The problems increased during the crisis period. Sanctions added to the difficulties - while a number of companies themselves refused clients due to reputational risks. The import substitution policy played a role in reducing the Ilfs' profits. With the fall of the ruble exchange rate, it became increasingly difficult for foreign companies that issue invoices in foreign currency to clients to maintain their positions - their market share began to pass to Russian competitors.

What will customers pay for?

Businesses are trying to get better quality legal services for less money and are demanding fixed prices and greater pricing transparency. The situation in which the client dictates the terms will continue, British researchers are confident - and this is not just about pricing policy. The ability to sell a service to a client becomes extremely important. Today's customers come to companies off the beaten path that their predecessors used. If just recently potential customers preferred to Google the necessary information regarding their question and a possible source of help, today companies receive more and more requests thanks to Facebook, where customers prefer to find out information.

By 2020, customers will want to receive more than just a qualified service - they will pay for a personalized and transparent service that is ready to adapt to their needs, the authors of the report admit. The emphasis has shifted to the needs of the client not today, but in five years, in the conditions of increased competition predicted in the legal market, the trend will only intensify, they are sure. Only understanding the client's request will help maintain competitiveness, experts warn, and many are already preoccupied with how not to lose touch with the client. Modern CRM systems (from the English Customer Relationship Management - customer relationship management system - ed.) help you study “your” client. The trend is also current in Russia. “Companies with the most effective CRM systems will increasingly move away from firms that do not have such systems,” she shared with Pravo.ru Svetlana Zelenova, Marketing Manager, BGP Litigation.

The law firm’s ability to attract attention will also play a significant role - against the backdrop of an increase in the number of those who provide legal services; It is increasingly difficult for clients, even knowledgeable ones, to decide who exactly to turn to for help of the proper quality at the right price. Without a well-thought-out marketing strategy, it will be difficult for companies to stay afloat.

Big data, online justice and data collection

Technical progress will significantly affect the market in the coming years, we are confident in the UK. Those who can afford to take advantage of its fruits will win; the rest risk being left behind. In general, total automation covering the legal market will benefit both companies and their clients. Thanks to technologies, including big data, online justice, as well as improved analysis of legislation or collection of data for the trial, in the next five years the availability of justice will increase and the cost of legal services will decrease, British experts note.

Such a scenario cannot be ruled out in Russia either. Although many continue to be skeptical about the need for extensive use of new technologies, it is difficult to imagine the work of a large company without modern IT developments. Both small software is used to solve current office problems, as well as complex IT systems, such as or (see " ").

In Russia, the emergence of new ways for clients to purchase legal services will not determine the development of the legal profession in the next five years, he believes Andrey Suchkov, Executive Vice President of the Federal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation. “But if we give a longer-term forecast, then the ways in which clients purchase legal services, as well as the introduction of technological innovations in the provision of legal assistance, are definitely strategic factors. It is these phenomena that will determine new types of competition,” he is confident.

Competition is growing - in-house lawyers versus consulting

New players and new types of competition will appear on the market: rivalry among leading companies will only increase over the next five years, we are confident in the UK. One of the most advantageous positions in this case is working in the legal department of a company, and not in legal consulting, which has sank not only in Russia, but also in other countries.

Money goes in-house: according to a 2015 UK study, 67 percent of law firms said they were losing business due to businesses handling legal issues in-house. Another 24 percent of surveyed companies see the expansion of legal departments as a threat to their work. Indeed, in an effort to save money, businesses are increasingly refusing the full package of services from law firms, coping with difficulties on their own whenever possible, avoiding outsourcing. By 2020, the trend will intensify - increasingly, legal departments will take everything upon themselves, outsourcing only certain stages of work or seeking advice only in situations atypical for practice.

Following the financial flows, qualified specialists are also drawn. From 2000 to 2012, the number of solicitors employed in legal departments doubled to 25,600, or 18% of the UK total. Soon, law firms will face competition from entire teams from legal departments, British experts believe. This will especially affect such areas of law as intellectual property, commercial and corporate law, labor law and commercial real estate. Legal departments will also be able to bring profit to the company - British legislation allows in-house teams to earn money independently by providing services to third-party clients.

In Russia, the legal consulting market has so far been “drying out” - according to experts, money, like in the UK, has been moving into the “inhouse”. "Inhouse", as a sector of the Russian legal market, is quite numerous and very strong at the moment, confirms Andrey Suchkov. But its further expansion in the near future can hardly be expected due to the above-mentioned economic factors, he believes: rather, on the contrary, there are fears that the regime of economy and personnel reduction at enterprises may well affect legal departments.

Don't underestimate your opponents

Those who want to survive the upcoming competition should not underestimate other players. The most significant of them, according to the authors of the study on the future of the legal market, are companies specializing in Legal IT and actively using technologies in their own law firms, and companies of the so-called “Big Four”. It can be assumed that traditional leaders in the field of audit will begin expansion into the legal market, the authors of the British study believe. The version has some basis. Thus, in 2013, Ernst & Young, through the legal firm EY Law, hired 250 lawyers - the total number of specialists was 1,100. In the same year, the company began providing legal services in 29 countries, including Australia, China, Japan, Mexico, etc. Companies work in the areas of commercial, labor and transactional law with a focus on financial services and banking practices. Deloitte Legal launched a law firm in Shanghai in 2013. PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG already provide legal services to alternative business structures in the UK.

Niche specialists are also taking clients away from “traditional” law firms. Family practice Cordell & Cordell has more than 100 offices in the United States and, with the addition of an office in London, hopes to capture the British market. “A lawyer a man can trust,” says the firm’s slogan – the company’s lawyers have been defending the rights of fathers and the interests of former spouses during divorce for several years. There are more and more such deeply and highly specialized niche companies, experts admit, and today they pose serious competition to large companies, taking away their work - especially taking into account the desire of businesses to save on legal services and not overpay for a brand. The number of niche companies will continue to grow, British experts predict.

In Russia, it is also increasingly possible to observe players on the market who specialize exclusively in certain areas of economics and law and, in this regard, win the right to be chosen by a client of the relevant industry, says Galina Pavlova, managing partner of Pavlova and Partners JSC. There is also a trend of “fragmentation” of law firms, adds Pavlova: “Recently we have seen a kind of “parade” of partners and lawyers leaving some companies and creating others. This is a normal phenomenon of growth, which really indicates development.” In Russia, highly specialized small companies have begun to appear in recent years. The number of so-called boutique law firms, formed, as a rule, by former employees of foreign law firms, has increased. Among them are KK&P, engaged in judicial work, Antitrust Advisory, specializing in antitrust law, VB&P, engaged in real estate matters. Prices lower than those of the ILFs, against the backdrop of narrow specialization and high quality of services, allowed them to confidently win their share in a highly competitive market.

Niche firms that practice only in one or a few specific areas of law will continue to develop, believes Alexander Vaneev, partner at BGP Litigation: “It is precisely such teams that will attract the most complex and interesting projects.”

By 2020, the number of private practitioners will also increase, who will be hired by both in-houses and citizens. The competitiveness of niche companies and private practices is supported by the growing desire of businesses to diversify by attracting third-party legal consultants - companies are increasingly choosing different law firms to solve certain problems or resorting to outside help only at certain stages of work, most of which is taken on by legal departments. They are talking about a similar trend in Russia - against the backdrop of the crisis, highly qualified freelance lawyers have appeared, whose services are in demand by clients seeking quality and savings.

Legal market as a product of political will

British analysts are waiting for positive decisions from politicians - political will is needed to increase the availability of justice, ensuring access to it for those who cannot afford to hire a good lawyer.

In Russia, there is an ambivalent attitude towards how the authorities influence the legal industry. On the one hand, thanks to legislators - including due to the deoffshorization policy - the number of transactions carried out under Russian law is growing. On the other hand, constant changes in legislation give rise to skepticism among lawyers. “For some reason, the legislator, instead of exercising authentic supervision over the implementation of current legislation, constantly produces more and more new laws,” he regrets Andrey Yakovlev, managing partner of the Yakovlev and Partners legal group. His colleagues from other Russian companies agree that the best course of action on the part of the authorities would be to monitor compliance with current legislation.

But one way or another, legislators will soon change the legal market - mainly through the introduction of a lawyer's monopoly on representation in court. “The most significant and one might say “market-forming” factor in the next five years will be the factor of changes in legislation. It is for 2016-1017 that the state program “Justice” plans to implement the practical implementation of the reform of the professional legal assistance market, which will change this market in many ways,” says Andrei Suchkov. According to the state program "Justice", a significant part of which is devoted to the reform and regulation of the legal services market, a bill on lawyer monopoly should be prepared by December 31, 2017.

However, assessments of possible changes are ambiguous - while some say that the reform will “unite the profession” and improve the quality of legal services, others criticize the opacity of the discussion process and doubt that the Concept of reform of the legal services market, which the Ministry of Justice worked on in December 2015, will be able to be implemented on practice. “The lawyer’s monopoly is, on the whole, the right step, but this is a step in the series of doing at least something, since abroad as well. I doubt that the community bodies will be able to seriously improve or control the quality of the services provided. However, we must pay tribute to the consolidation of the community, which it has shown in a number of cases. If only for this reason, the institution of the Russian legal profession deserves respect," notes Vaneev.

Russians can also count on the fact that legal assistance will become more accessible, the executive director of the FPA is sure. An increase in prices for legal services, including in connection with the reform of the legal aid market, should not be expected, he believes; rather, on the contrary, a decrease in effective demand for legal services may create the opposite trend. In addition, five years have passed since the introduction of the free legal assistance system for the population in accordance with Federal Law 324, he reminds: “This is a sufficient period of time to sum up the results of the implementation stage of this system, analyze errors and shortcomings. And there are a lot of them, including and to conclude that its situation is extremely ineffective at the moment. I hope that the right conclusions will be drawn and the necessary decisions will be made so that in the next year or two the system of free legal assistance to the population will receive a “second wind” and begin to work effectively and in full force." .

Changes that won't happen

In general, Russian lawyers, unlike their British colleagues, believe that fundamental changes in the legal profession should not be expected in the next five years. To confirm this, it is enough to take a retrospective look at the same time distance at the legal profession: compared to 2011, little has changed in this area, says Andrei Suchkov. “Still, this industry is very conservative and strives to preserve the established order with all its might,” confirms Alexander Vaneev. Among the obvious trends, he highlights the emergence of new young aggressive teams that will adopt and develop the experience of their senior colleagues. “There will remain a conventional division into lawyers who are engaged in actual practice and are truly experts, and those lawyers who are mainly engaged in business development and have very superficial, fragmentary knowledge, but advertise themselves at every opportunity,” predicts Alexander Vaneev.

The main factor in the next five years, which will continue to influence the development of the legal profession, will remain the economic crisis. “If in the period we are observing, a way out of it begins (not even the completion of this way out), this will already be very good,” notes Andrei Suchkov. “A less optimistic scenario is getting used to existing in this situation in the next five years. In any of the options, crisis phenomena definitely have a negative impact on the economic business environment and, as a consequence, on the development of the legal profession."

At first glance it may seem that legal profession– it’s a pleasure and a favorite pastime.

On TV we see lawyers as literate people who know the laws by heart, always smiling and with money. In reality, the situation is significantly opposite.

Yes, I agree that there are lawyers who make fortunes in real life. But if someone thought about how they get it, they would not talk about the legal profession as a “simple” occupation.

In this article I want to make a short overview of the legal profession, point out its pros and cons, and show the goals of lawyers. In general, I will cite everything from my own experience, since I myself studied in the specialty “Jurisprudence”. So, let's begin.

Lawyer... Expensive lawyer... Professional lawyer... We can hear such words quite often. This suggests that the legal profession has been and remains one of the most in demand in Ukraine.

Advantages and disadvantages

Of course, every profession has its positive and negative sides. The legal profession is no exception.

I'll give you a few advantages.

1. High salary. Oh yeah. This is precisely why many people enroll in law schools.
2. Status.
3. Lawyer sounds proud and prestigious.
4. Opportunity for career growth.
5. You will be able to open your own company, provide individual paid services, etc. And this, again, is money and authority.

Now a few downsides.

1. Constant nerves (especially at the very beginning).
2. Lots of paperwork.
3. At first, there was a lack of practice (this happened to me personally).
4. Difficult clients (again, affects the psyche).

I will say this, everyone chooses the pros and cons in this profession based on their own motives. For some, a minus can be a plus, but for others, vice versa. We are all different, and our points of view are also different.

Lawyers' goals

Well, I was waiting for this subtitle throughout the entire article. Let's think about what is the goal of a lawyer? Why does he study, do internships, protect someone’s interests?

These questions can be answered as follows.

A lawyer is, first and foremost, a defender of law and justice! Yes, now it sounds funny, since this concept is not followed everywhere, but still, the main goal of a lawyer is precisely the protection of rights, monitoring the implementation and observance of democratic principles.

But lawyers are people too, and, as you know, they are all different (I have already talked about this). For some, justice and legality are above all else, for others it is money and status, for others it is both.

In general, everyone also sees their own goals. I won’t write about my goals now - since it won’t fit on any piece of paper - I’ll just say that they should be reasonable and that’s all! There is no need to invent anything else.

Finally

Do you want to be a lawyer? Think carefully and answer this question with reason. Ask yourself additional questions - “Why do I need this?”, “What will I get out of this?” etc.

Do you think big earnings? Maybe, but for this you need to work hard and for many years to gain authority.

Write your answers on a piece of paper - if they are meaningful, then you are on the right path. Good luck!

Today we will talk about what constitutes profession lawyer. Lawyers occupy one of the key positions on the modern list, and this is no coincidence: competent specialists are needed in almost every branch of business or public service. Next, I will look at what the profession of a lawyer is, work as a lawyer what are there legal specialties, the pros and cons of this profession and many other important points. About all this in order...

Legal education and all legal specialties in the post-Soviet space became popular in the late 90s of the last century, and still remain so. This happened due to the development of capitalism - a system in which many legal issues always arise in various spheres of human life, the solution of which, naturally, requires competent specialists.

The word "lawyer" comes from the Latin jus is law and means a specialist in legal matters. The legal profession is a very broad concept that includes many different areas, which I will discuss a little later.

Every person, every family, every enterprise, every structure operates within the framework of certain laws and rules issued by the state. These basic rules are systematized and enshrined in sets of laws - codes and constitutions. But, as you know, not everyone obeys these laws, and often others suffer from non-compliance with the laws by some subjects. The legal profession exists to protect and defend the interests of subjects from non-compliance with laws that has negative consequences for them.

It can be said that, in theory, the legal profession carries the most noble motives: to provide legal protection and eliminate legal disorder. Unfortunately, in practice in our countries this is not always the case: often representatives of legal structures themselves are the main violators of the laws. But let’s not rely on the worst, but believe that the situation should change for the better, because in this form it is not viable in the future.

Legal specialties.

The legal profession includes a large number of different areas. Let's look at the most popular legal specialties.

Advocate– a lawyer who defends the interests of his clients in court proceedings. He independently collects the necessary information, studies the case materials, and does everything to ensure that the court makes a decision in favor of his client. A lawyer can be in private practice, work in a law office or for a specific firm (in-house lawyer).

Prosecutor- a lawyer, in some ways the opposite of a lawyer, since he always represents the prosecution in court. But not only that, in addition to this, an employee of the prosecutor’s office monitors compliance with legislative norms, sometimes performing the functions of an investigator (see below). Prosecutors work in government agencies: the prosecutor's office and the courts.

Judge– a very important and significant lawyer, on whom the outcome of any case depends. It is he who puts an end to the dispute between the lawyer and the prosecutor, having examined the case materials and their arguments. Judges are vested with a certain power (there is even such a concept - “judicial power” - the third branch of power in the state), and therefore they are entrusted with a very great responsibility. Often they literally act as arbiters of human destinies. A judge can work in courts at various levels: from local to state. However, getting a job as a judge is very difficult: to do this, you need to meet many criteria, including considerable successful experience as a lawyer, pass various checks, pass exams, and only then get reviewed by a commission that makes a decision on electing judges.

Notary– a lawyer involved in the preparation and certification of documents that require notarization and certification. These can be various types of agreements, powers of attorney, copies of documents, extracts from documents, etc. The notary also bears considerable responsibility, since professionally drawn up and certified documents prevent the occurrence of problematic issues for his clients in the future. You can work as a notary in both public and private notary offices. Notaries make good money, but becoming a notary is also not easy - you will need to pass very difficult exams and obtain a license. In addition, there are usually quotas for the number of notaries in all cities and regions, and a new private notary can only appear if the quota is expanded or if another one ceases its activities and a position becomes available.

Investigator– a lawyer specializing in the investigation of crimes and offenses, initiating cases and conducting them with a view to their subsequent transfer to court. The investigator works with suspects, witnesses, conducts interrogations, searches for evidence, draws up reports, interacts with other law enforcement agencies, etc. You can work as an investigator in the police, prosecutor's office and other law enforcement agencies. And it happens that investigators, having served in the authorities and gained experience, become private detectives and work for themselves, which is more promising in terms of earnings.

Legal Advisor– a lawyer who is responsible for compliance with the law in a particular organization: public or private. He solves all the organization’s problems that in one way or another relate to legal norms: he develops and checks concluded contracts, advises management on legal issues, and acts as a lawyer in the company’s legal proceedings. There are legal advisers in almost every more or less large organization, and in very large ones there are entire legal departments with many divisions. In addition, a professional legal consultant can engage in private practice, providing paid consultations and providing legal assistance in his area to everyone.

International lawyer– a specialist responsible for compliance with the norms of not only domestic, but also international law. Such specialists are required in government agencies and companies working with foreign partners. The work of an international lawyer requires frequent business trips abroad and a thorough knowledge of the English language, incl. specific legal terms. A very serious, responsible and highly paid position.

Lecturer of legal disciplines- and, finally, any lawyer who has achieved success in his work, and sometimes not, can become a teacher and teach other people who want to become a lawyer. There are many such people now, so competent teachers are always in demand, and in TOP commercial universities their work is highly paid.

Working as a lawyer: necessary qualities.

Now let’s look at what qualities you need to have in order to choose the profession of lawyer and subsequently work as a lawyer.

• Responsibility– this is perhaps the main quality of all lawyers, without which there is nothing to do in this profession;
• Integrity– working as a lawyer involves fundamentally defending one’s position (the position of one’s client, one’s enterprise);
• Stress resistance– in their work, lawyers are constantly faced with very serious problems, so they must be able to perceive them correctly;
• Attentiveness, and even to little things, one might say, meticulousness is also one of the necessary professional qualities of a lawyer;
• Perseverance, patience, endurance– working as a lawyer, firstly, is associated with the need to constantly study changes in legislation, and secondly, the cases that he handles can “drag on” for months and even years, and haste, as a rule, can only harm the success of the case;
• Cool mind– a lawyer in his work should not be influenced by emotions - this way his work will immediately lose much effectiveness, everything should be built only according to calculations and the letter of the law;
• Negotiation skills- a lawyer must be an experienced diplomat, and even often - in order to be able to convince opponents to accept the side of the issue that he needs;
• Moral qualities– and, finally, the work of a lawyer should not contradict the basics of morality, because his job is to help and not harm people.

Working as a lawyer: pros and cons.

Let's look at the main pros and cons of working as a lawyer, because in any case there are always two sides to the coin.

Working as a lawyer, advantages:

1. Very good prospects for earning money. Lawyers belong to the number both in the world and in a particular country.
2. High status in society. The profession of a lawyer initially gives a person a higher status in the eyes of others, because... considered prestigious.
3. Personal benefits. For a person who is well versed in the law and has experience in resolving legal disputes (and this is what working as a lawyer involves), it is always easier to resolve any personal legal issues that may arise, and for this there will be no need to contact other lawyers and incur considerable expenses .
4. Interesting job. Finally, working as a lawyer is, as a rule, very interesting and opens up good opportunities for self-realization and intellectual development. After all, each new case is individual; the lawyer will face difficult mental and psychological confrontations with other lawyers, and these are excellent conditions for constant self-improvement.
5. Benefit to people. Working as a lawyer involves providing constant practical benefit to various people, and it is always pleasant to feel useful.

Working as a lawyer, cons:

1. Great competition in the labor market. Due to the prestige of the legal profession, many people try to get it, which causes an oversupply of young specialists in the labor market and a high level of competition between them.
2. Without experience - only the worst job. The profession of a lawyer is one of those in which the most important valuable quality is practical experience. Therefore, you can’t even count on getting a good, well-paid job as a lawyer without experience: first you have to gain it in uninteresting and unpromising positions like lawyers in small budget organizations.
3. Enormous responsibility and exposure to temptation. Since the fate of people or entire organizations often literally depends on the work of lawyers, they simply have a huge moral responsibility. And for the same reason, lawyers of all types often feel pressure from competitors or relatives of the people they are fighting cases against. They may be offered bribes and even threatened, and very seriously. Not everyone is able to withstand such a burden of responsibility and pressure.
4. Complex licensing and examination procedures. To get the most prestigious, highly paid and promising legal positions (judges, notaries, private lawyers, private detectives, etc.), you will have to pass very difficult exams and periodically confirm your qualifications. In countries with high levels of corruption, it is almost impossible to get such a position honestly.
5. Irregular working hours, business trips. Working as a lawyer in many areas requires constantly being “on your feet,” and often requires traveling to other cities and even long-term ones (for example, during a trial).
6. Communication with unreliable people. Working as a lawyer in a number of areas requires constant communication with criminals and criminals, which not everyone is able to withstand.

Now you have some idea of ​​what the legal profession is, what legal specialties exist, why working as a lawyer is interesting and promising, what its pros and cons are, and you can draw preliminary conclusions about whether you like it or not. Well, if you show interest, study more detailed information about this profession and choose the direction in which you would like to study.

By the way, the profession of a lawyer is one of those where a prerequisite for work will always be the presence of a specialized legal education, which is now often expensive. In many other areas you can work and build a career without a higher education or with a non-core education, but not in working as a lawyer.

In conclusion, I want to emphasize that when choosing a profession as a lawyer, you should not prioritize the money that it can bring. A lawyer is, first of all, a calling to help people, defend laws, seek justice, and if there is no such calling, it is unlikely that you will succeed in working as a lawyer. Remember this and don’t make similar mistakes.

That's all for today. I wish you the right choice of direction for your activities. Stay on and get a lot of other useful practical information. See you again!

Studying at the law faculty of any university opens up great opportunities for students. In the future, if there is some desire, certified lawyers can work in the field of law in many different types of specialties. As a rule, law students are advised to decide on their future profession already in the 2nd or 3rd year. Such a measure is quite important, as it will allow the future lawyer to study in a specific specialty and even do an internship in the relevant institutions.

The choice of a future profession as a lawyer is extremely responsible, so it should be approached competently and thoughtfully. In today's material, we will consider the most popular specialties in the jurisprudence of the Russian Federation and the features of work in each of them. Perhaps this information will provide significant assistance to someone in becoming a lawyer and will allow them to assess the prospects of a particular area.

The average period for obtaining a legal education is from 5 to 7 years (with the exception of professions that require experience to obtain a license)

Jurisprudence - a system of knowledge and methods of their practical application regarding the legal side of people's lives, represents one of the most important aspects in the existence of modern states. Law is something inalienable in the life of a civilized person, so professions related to its interpretation are in demand more than ever. Given this state of affairs, many people strive to learn the “legal craft” and work in this direction.

Only specially trained persons can work in the field of law. More than 1,000 universities in Russia train certified specialists, each of which annually graduates hundreds of new graduates.

A legal education is precisely the pass that allows individuals to work in the relevant professions. In its absence, official assistance to citizens on legal issues is impossible, so potential lawyers cannot avoid undergoing specialized training.

Today, absolutely anyone can get a law degree. For this it is enough:

1. Pass the Unified State Exam and choose a university that matches the scores you received.
2. Complete the competition, if it is held (usually, there are 6 to 8 people for 1 place).
3. Decide on the direction of activity in the field and, accordingly, study.

On average, lawyers are trained for 4-7 years. Much depends on the nature of the future profession, its complexity and whether the person has previously graduated from legal institutions (for example, specialized colleges). After receiving a diploma, a lawyer can begin to realize himself professionally immediately. The exception is some legal professions, which require experience in the field. For example, only those lawyers who have worked for at least 5 years in a general legal field will be able to obtain a notary license.

List of the most popular professions and their descriptions

The most popular legal professions are lawyer, legal consultant and notary.

The concept of “lawyer” is extremely general, therefore a person with a legal education cannot simultaneously be classified as a lawyer, an investigator, a notary, or other specialties in the field of jurisprudence. Since the legal side of anyone’s life is truly multifaceted, it is simply unrealistic to know all its aspects. Any lawyer must have a specific work profile, constantly study it and work in the chosen direction.

There are quite a lot of legal professions in Russia. All of them are specific in their own way, but are certainly associated with labor in the legal sphere of state life. Among the most sought-after, popular and respected legal specialties, we highlight:

• Lawyers who have the right to provide qualified legal services to citizens regarding the legal side of their lives. In the Russian Federation, lawyers are recognized as all specialists who can legally act as professional advisers on legal issues for other persons. As a rule, representatives of the legal profession specialize in protecting the interests and rights of citizens and legal entities in the courts.
• Legal consultants (legal advisers), whose activities are based on consulting people on issues of interest to them. These specialists work for relevant organizations and can help a wide variety of categories of people (from employees of the institution itself to ordinary citizens).
• Notaries working in the notary field. Perhaps there is no need to explain in detail the essence of this profession. Everyone knows about the need for one or another certification of documents or procedures, which is simply impossible without the participation of a notary at the official level.
• Prosecutors, who are the main legal representatives of the prosecution in Russia. They are the ones who work in judicial and similar instances on behalf of the prosecuting side. Naturally, the implementation of such activities requires phenomenal knowledge in legal matters.
• Investigators authorized to conduct investigations in criminal and similar cases. Unlike prosecutors, investigators are not part of the prosecution. These specialists only operate with facts and work to find the truth in a specific situation.
• Judges who are the main representatives of justice in the Russian Federation. They are the ones who are endowed with all the constitutional powers to accomplish this. Only has the right to make an official verdict on legal issues considered within the framework of legal proceedings.

The rest of the legal professions are also very important, but compared to those noted above, they are not so significant. We will consider their list for informational purposes below. Now we note that the specialties described are the basis that all potential lawyers should pay attention to. From each profession considered, several other related ones always follow, which is very convenient for professional legal activity when understanding the fundamentals of a particular area.

List of less popular specialties in the field of jurisprudence

Try not to make a mistake in choosing a direction, so that you don’t have to relearn it later.

As noted earlier, the list of legal professions is wide and multifaceted. Along with popular specialties, there are also less popular areas of work in jurisprudence. These include legal professions, a list of which is given below:

• Tax lawyer specializing in tax law. In recent years, this profession has become more in demand, since the constant complication of tax legislation in the Russian Federation often takes legally unsavvy citizens by surprise. The latter, naturally, turn to lawyers of appropriate specialization for help.
• , implementing the will of his federal service. The demand for this profession is not high, but you can still find a free place and work for many years for the benefit of the FSSP.
• A forensic expert working under the strict supervision of or together with an investigator.
• A patent specialist who allows the creators of something to assign rights to their “brainchild” in a legally established manner and without errors.
• A lawyer for registration of organizations, helping enterprises begin their official activities.
• An assistant lawyer in any area of ​​law, which is simply necessary when a specialist conducts a large number of cases.

Please note that the list presented above is far from exhaustive. There are a huge number of specialties in the legal field, so it is important to approach the choice of a specific area of ​​activity extremely responsibly. Unfortunately, the mistakes made in this regard are practically impossible to correct.

After training, you will either have to work in your chosen profession, or painfully, with great time losses, retrain. Many will agree that it is extremely irrational to allow this to happen and it is much more convenient to immediately choose a promising specialty.

Nuances of all legal professions: job prospects, payment and more

The main difference between legal professions is in relation to which area of ​​law the lawyer’s work is carried out. Naturally, working in specific legal environments requires more knowledge, effort and experience, which is rewarded with a more substantial salary. The situation is diametrically opposite with lawyers from other areas of law.

In order to fully highlight all the features of the legal specialties noted today, our resource decided to highlight the main nuances of each of them. You can find the formed “bouquet” of features of professions in the following table:

As you can see, absolutely all legal professions have nuances. It is advisable for any lawyer to correctly determine the most preferable direction of activity at the stage, since the final success of work in jurisprudence depends on this. Don’t forget that in addition to strong human qualities, working as a lawyer requires a lot of knowledge and experience.

Perhaps, this is where the most important provisions on the topic of today’s article have come to an end. As you can see, the list of legal specialties in the Russian Federation is truly wide. We hope that the presented material helped every reader of our resource understand it and gave a general understanding of each available profession.

Lecture on working in the legal field: