Pros and Cons of being a lawyer | Careers360

Lawyers are considered a force of social changes and bringing justice to the common people. But there are certain considerations that we need to look upon before deciding law as a career path. There are always some pros and cons of being a lawyer. One may take up law as a profession after looking at the rewards it brings to the individual in terms of social reputation, monetary benefits, or the satisfaction of being part of the justice delivery system. But, there may be some negative points of being a lawyer in India like the work stress, the risk involved in the profile, bad public image. If you are actively engaged in social works, you may not make enough money to manage your expenses. So, one must consider this career only after taking into account advantages and disadvantages of being a lawyer. The article “Pros and Cons of being a lawyer” gives an insight into the reality of being a lawyer so that you can make better informed decisions concerning LLB education, read below to learn more.

What Does a Lawyer Do?

A lawyer's main work is to counsel his or her clients on legal matters. The work can involve representing a client in court, drafting the terms of an agreement from a legal point of view, ensuring regulatory compliance of an organisation's activities and so on.

Pros of being a lawyer

Lawyers are the backbone of our legal justice system as they help in delivering justice to the needy. The legal profession happens to be one of the most respected and powerful job profiles in the country. There are several positive points of being a lawyer or an attorney. From social reputation to monetary rewards, a lawyer can do many things. The top benefits of being a lawyer in India are given below.

Top 10 Pros of Being a Lawyer

1. Exapanding Career opportunities

In the past few decades, the career opportunities for lawyers have increased tremendously, it is not limited to just litigation and fighting the cases in the court of law. Rather, the career opportunities for a lawyer now include a diverse range of work profile. For example, when the international trade system took a more formal and regulatory approach, we needed lawyers who can handle the cases related to intellectual property law, international trade and related things. And, today law specialization in Intellectual Property Law or International laws offers a lot of career opportunities. A more recent example would be Cyberlaw which is trending mainly because it is new and offers a lot of scope for career growth.

2. Monetary rewards

The lawyers can make good financial rewards. A good private lawyer always attracts a number of clients and each case brings monetary benefits. To some extent, the monetary benefits of a lawyer depend on how he/she works or has worked in the past. If the work experience and success rate is good, the lawyers can charge really high and make good monetary benefits. If working as a public official or government legal officer, one can ensure the security of a job with a high salary.

3. Lawyers as social activists

Lawyers can also work as a social activist. They understand the legal system better than a common man and hence can represent in the cases related to social welfare or that are related to bringing justice to the poor and needy. In fact, if we look at the most popular lawyers like Indira Jaising, Colin Gonsalves, Prashant Bhushan etc, most of them have included activism in their work profile or are working as social activists.

4. Lawyers are intellectual minds of society - The law education itself imparts the argumentative and critical thinking skills. So, it makes sure that the lawyers are able to think with a vision. This is one of the big reasons why many lawyers in the past were able to break the rigid social norms. Lawyers majorly dominated the constituent assembly and shaped the constitution we follow today. Today, with their work, the lawyers learn new things, almost every day, which helps them in keeping themselves aware of so many things.

5. Dynamic nature of work - In day to day work, the lawyers come across various types of cases. These cases require deep study and research. This, at the first moment, benefits the lawyers in gaining more and more knowledge. At the same time, it adds to the dynamism of the profile.

6. Flexibility- Lawyers may be able to adjust their work schedules as per their personal requirements such as their meeting with clients, more so, if one is doing private practice as a lawyer.

7. Healthy Exchange of Ideas: One of the main job of a lawyer is to debate and reason to win cases. This leads to healthy exchange of ideas and thinking from different perspectives. Constant debating and reasoning also makes one a good communicator.

8. Complementary Skill sets: One can also apply one's skills and expertise as a lawyer to other areas such as public relations, contract negotiation, merger and acquisitions, and politics too. This transferable nature of skills greatly improves the career scope for a lawyer.

9. Office Environment: The nature of a lawyer's work is such that it doesn't tie the lawyer up to a desk and chair in an office cubicle. A lawyer's work will the require him or her to attend court hearings, meet clients, talk to law firms and so on. The work environment is more dynamic, giving more satisfaction.

10. Prestige: Lawyers are held in high esteem in the society due to the kind of work they do. So, becoming a lawyer comes with a great non-monetary reward of respect and prestige in the society.

Cons of Being a lawyer

Law as a profession sometimes may not work as one would have expected. The work of a lawyer is full of challenges. The profession may not be satisfying to some on account of several reasons. The monetary benefits may not be as good as one may think or the work stress can be tremendous. Below are some of the cons of being a lawyer. The top disadvantages of being a lawyer in India are given below-

Top 10 Drawbacks of Being a Lawyer

1. Work Stress - Lawyers have to manage different kinds of work like fulfilling the demands of the clients, debating in the courtroom, doing research on the case, gathering information and pieces of evidence. Sometimes, the lawyers have to work continuously for hours to ensure that they represent their client successfully. The trial hours on a common day may extend up to 10-12 hours. And, this kind of job profile puts a lot of stress on daily lifestyle.

2. Lower Monetary Benefits

The monetary benefits can be derived from the fees or salary, but it should also be noted that the lawyer fees often depends on the reputation of the lawyers. So, if one is starting out as a lawyer, initially there can be a period of struggle where the monetary reward is very low. Even in the cases of legal advice, the clients may navigate through the legal system with the help of online websites that are offering legal advice at much cheaper costs.

3. Social Work can be Volunteer Work

In case, the lawyer wants to do public work or some kind of social activities, the lawyer may have to do volunteer work in the name of public interest. Many NGOs often hire unpaid volunteers for their charity and social acitivities instead of paid full time employees.

4. High Cost of Legal Education

Legal education in India, or in any other country is offered at a very high cost. Mostly, it is seen that the students complete their graduation or specialization course with the help of an educational loan or any other financial assistance. So, when they start their career, the burden of loan eats out a big part of the monetary benefits.

5. Work culture - Wearing a black suit may look fascinating from outside, but the courtroom battle may not be as inspiring as one may think. The lawyers have to interact with people coming from all backgrounds wealthy, poor, politicians, criminals etc. They have to ask questions and discuss all types of things in the courtroom. Further, dealing with the opposition's lawyer can be the most frustrating part of the job. The risk involved in cases that involve criminals, politicians etc can add on to the negative side of being a lawyer.

6. Lesser International Opportunities: Lawyers are often trained about the law of the land. Every country has its specific laws. So, a lawyer in India may not be aware of laws prevailing in other countries. This drawback greatly limits the scope for international assignments.

7. Great deal of marketing required: If one is doing private practice, then one has to invest great amount of time and money on marketing oneself. With too many lawyers and big law firms in the market, the competition is tough. Surviving in such a market can turn out to be tricky.

8. Negative Publicity: Being a lawyer can also garner a lot of negative publicity if a lawyer is fighting a case for a client or cause, that is viewed negatively by the general public. Even if the lawyer wins such a case, it will be perceived in bad light by the public.

9. Technological Changes: With development in technology, lawyers today need to be nimble and tech savvy, in order to not be left behind. Today, many legal websites offer legal advise and people can also search on google for solutions instead of going to a lawyer. Any aspiring lawyer must be wary of these technological changes.

10. Legal Changes: Laws are often subject to amendments and changes. Lawyers therefore have this onerous task of keeping up to date with latest laws and amendments. Their livelihood is directly dependent on how well they know and interpret the law.

Top Courses to Become a Lawyer

Here is a table describing the law courses that one can pursue in order to become a lawyer in India

Top Law Colleges In India

Here is a list of top ten colleges as per the NIRF law rankings 2023 released by Ministry of HRD. Govt. of India.