How Do New Jersey Lawyers Become Qualified?

At one time or another in their lives, most people need the services of a lawyer at least once, whether it's a divorce, making a will, or issues such as suing someone or criminal court cases. Whether your issue is simple or complicated, it quickly becomes apparent that the services of an attorney are expensive.

Given the price that New Jersey lawyers command for their services, you may feel more at ease knowing just how much education they need to become a lawyer. Alternately, you may have a student in your household that is considering this profession as their choice for a career. Either way, it helps to know what New Jersey lawyers need in order to be able to practice.

Strong Undergraduate Education

For New Jersey lawyers, and indeed for any lawyer in the United States, the journey to becoming a lawyer starts with a solid undergraduate college education. While any undergraduate degree will suffice for the undergraduate requirements for law school, many students opt for a degree that will prepare them for their law education. These are often social sciences, such as philosophy or political science, and in addition to these, some schools offer pre-law programs which further prepare a student with electives to prepare for law school.

Graduate Years

Typically, New Jersey lawyers will need to attend a law school for three years in order to obtain their Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree. Typically this is similar to undergraduate courses, a mix of required courses as well as a series of courses of the student's own choosing.

In addition to the regular education requirements, New Jersey lawyers may participate in additional activities, such as being part of the school's moot court team or acting as a law clerk, which is a prestigious position that provides assistance to judges.

The Final Test

Even after law school is over, however, New Jersey lawyers have one more hurdle to leap over, and that is to achieve admission to the bar, which has multiple requirements. New Jersey lawyers must pass a national bar exam as well as fulfill additional examination requirements for the New Jersey bar examination, must be certified as morally fit and capable of performing their duties, and to take an oath of admission to the state bar.

Only then may New Jersey lawyers practice in the state. Should they choose to practice elsewhere, of course, they will need to follow local requirements as well. Given the number of hoops that a prospective attorney must jump through, should you be searching for New Jersey lawyers, you can at least have some confidence that they've gone through plenty of work to qualify to help you.