Should I Become a Personal Injury Lawyer?
Personal injury lawyers focus their practice on cases related to psychological or physical injuries, such as those caused by a negligent physician or a drunk driver. They work to ensure that their client's rights are protected and that the client receives a fair settlement to compensate for his or her injuries.
While most lawyers work on a full-time basis in an office setting, many work very long hours as they prepare for a case and may have to travel to meet with clients or other individuals related to a case. Most personal injury lawyers work for private practices. The potential for high income is present with experience and an affiliation with a respected practice. Working as a personal injury lawyer can be very stressful as well.
Career Requirements
| Degree Level | Law degree (Juris Doctor) |
| Degree Field | Law |
| Certification | Bar Exam |
| Key Skills | Strong speaking skills, analytical and organizational skills, knowledge of federal and state laws pertaining to personal injury |
| Salary | $114,970 (2014 median for all lawyers) |
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Step 1: Earn a Bachelor's Degree
To attend law school, students must have a bachelor's degree. Although most schools will accept undergraduate study from any area, common majors for prospective lawyers include political science, social science, history and English. Some schools offer programs specifically in pre-law.
Toward the end of a bachelor's program, students must take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), a multiple-choice exam that measures a student's aptitude for the skills normally used by lawyers, such as critical reading, research, task management and logic. Admission to law school is typically competitive and often depends on a student's grade point average, as well as his or her LSAT score.
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Step 2: Earn a Law Degree
Law school generally requires three years of study beyond a bachelor's degree. The first year covers general legal subjects, such as constitutional law, property, torts, contracts, criminal law and legal writing. The second and third years are dedicated to elective courses, which can include courses related to personal injury, such as advanced tort law, medical malpractice law and civil litigation. It's important to note that in order to gain admittance to the bar, most states require attorneys to earn their law degree from an institution that has been approved by the American Bar Association (ABA).
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Step 4: Take the Bar Exam
In order to practice law in most states, aspiring lawyers need to pass the bar exam (successful passage constitutes licensure and is called 'being admitted to the bar'). There's no specific bar exam for personal injury lawyers; the exam is the same for all specialties. The format and content of this exam varies from state to state. In most cases, applicants are tested on state-specific and national laws. The bar exam must be taken in the state a personal injury attorney intends to practice.
Step 5: Take the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE)
The ABA reports that in addition to being admitted to the bar, many states require lawyers to pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE). This multiple-choice exam is meant to measure a lawyer's understanding of professional conduct. The test is not meant to determine the individual lawyer's ethics, but rather to measure his or her understanding of the laws that govern professional behavior and how they apply to lawyers in cases such as contempt, censure or even criminal wrongdoings while on the job.
Step 6: Continue Education
Continuing education is required in most states for a personal injury lawyer to maintain bar status. A personal injury lawyer can continue his or her education through the Center of Professional Development offered by the ABA. Law schools may also offer continuing education courses. Additionally, continuing education can help a lawyer stay current with changes in laws and advances in the field.
Step 7: Gain Experience to Advance Career
A personal injury lawyer can take several routes for career advancement, but all require gaining several years of legal, courtroom and practical experience. Junior lawyers working in law firms can become partners, an ownership position within the firm. Additionally, experience offers some lawyers the skills and contacts to open their own law firms. Experienced lawyers can also become judges or law professors.
