Criminal Defense Lawyer
Job Description
A criminal defense lawyer requires a special education. These lawyers represent people or places that are being accused of a crime. Criminal defense lawyers are employed by the government and are also known as public defenders. They research, prepare, and argue a case in order to keep them from criminal charges. A criminal defense lawyer's work is very stressful and hours can very, leading into being extremely long. They work at least forty hours each week, though commonly these hours extend much longer than expected.
School
All lawyers must earn a bachelor's degree, take three years of law school, and pass their state exams.
Travel
There is a lot of travel required to different places. Courtrooms, law libraries, prisons, hospitals, offices, and a client's home are only a few of the places criminal defense lawyer's travel to.
Outside of Work
Being any type of lawyer takes lots of time and doesn't leave much room for free time. Case preparation and research are two important jobs to be done outside of court. They are provided examined evidence, laws and statues, and past judgment rulings to gather information for their specific argument.
Aspects
A criminal defense lawyer must choose the best argument available in order to win their specific case. It is helpful to be quick to change considering the evidence wanted to be used for the trial is often no longer accurate or overruled and new evidence should be found quickly. A lawyer should also be straight forward; if a lawyer is not straight forward, their evidence could be taken in a different way messing up further evidence.
Pay
Average salary for a criminal defense lawyer is around $78,000, but the salary can range from $45,000-$130,000. A private criminal defense lawyer earns the lowest pay compared to other criminal lawyers. More experience and practice leads to higher pay and more cases.