How to Become a Lawyer

If
you want to know how to become a lawyer, there are several touchstones
on the path that are necessary to hit in order to be successful. 
Following is a discussion of how to become a lawyer and suggestions for
checking your progress along every step of the way. 

The first step in how to
become a lawyer is getting a bachelor's degree from an accredited
university.  That means going to college for four years, studying very
hard and participating in extracurricular activities.  Your major
itself is not so important—some schools will have pre-law programs, but
many successful lawyers went to law school with a degree in another
related discipline, such as English, history, or statistics.  If you
intend to practice in a very specialized area of law, such as
pharmaceutical law, then you will have to tailor your major to fit that
specialty, but otherwise, it's pretty much your choice.  However, no
matter what major you choose you'll have to have good grades to get
into law school, so put your best into every test. 

The second step in how to
become a lawyer is applying to law school.  (Law school degrees are
required to take the bar exam in every state except California.)  Law
schools are very competitive so apply to as many as is feasible and
don't be distraught if you don't get into your first choice (even if
it's where you got your undergraduate degree).  Once you get into law
school, you'll have three years of intense study before taking the bar
exam.  The primary purpose of law school is to teach you the reasoning
and research skills lawyers need, not to prepare for the exam.  Over
the summer vacations, it's a good idea to get a summer associate
position, rather than the typical summer job.  This experience will
look much better on your resume when you're ready to enter the legal
profession for real.   

When you've graduated law
school, you may have your law degree, but there's still another step in
how to become a lawyer: the bar exam.  Decide which states you want to
be eligible to practice in, as there is one part of the exam that is
standard for everyone no matter where they live, and another part that
is just for individual states.  (If you choose to try more than one
state, you don't have to duplicate the standard part; you only take it
once.)  Find a study group or coach to help you with this, as failing
the bar exam is the biggest barrier in how to become a lawyer.   

After you've passed the
bar exam, the final step in how to become a lawyer is extremely
simple—attend your swearing in and meet any requirements your state bar
has, such as annual dues or keeping up with continuing legal education
requirements.