How intellectually hard is it to be an attorney?
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Anonymous
| Is it intellectually taxing? Do you need a certain IQ? |
Anonymous
Judging by some I know, absolutely not |
Anonymous
|
There are different types of smart, even for attorneys.
Yes, at a bare minimum, you have to be smart enough to get into law school and pass the bar. I’d say that takes above average intelligence. But, once you cross that hurdle, how successful you are as an attorney will depend on whether you choose a specialty that aligns with your strengths - transactional, tax, patent, litigation, family, etc. they all really play to different strengths. You can be academically brilliant and love engineering and be an amazing patent attorney, or you can be a master of strategy, negotiation and contracts and be the best divorce lawyer. |
Anonymous
| Meh. Being a lawyer is just a regular college degree in almost all other countries. I think somebody set it up to be some kind of racket here in America. I think it simply takes the right kind of personality and ego. |
Anonymous
It's easy to become an attorney. Unlike U.S. medical schools, where even the worst schools have single digit admission rates, most law schools have lax admission standards. With the exception of the elite law schools, most law schools are easy to get into. For example, in past years, GW Law School, which is regularly ranked in the 20s, accepted more than 40 percent of applicants. The less prestigious law schools generally accept more than 50 percent of applicants. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
| No you do not. Those guys you see on billboards about calling them if you have a car accident? Their work isn’t intellectual. Some attorney jobs are intellectually taxing but definitely not all of them. |
Anonymous
| It mostly seems boring to me. |
Anonymous
| It helps if you are a strong reader and fairly self directing. But it's not taxing, no. Different areas play to different strengths and there are a lot of law jobs that don't require creativity. |
Anonymous
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Significantly smarter than the average person. The vast majority of Americans could not write a legal brief of such a standard that it would be admitted to a court of law. In addition, the vast majority of Americans could not successfully make a lengthy and complex verbal argument before a group of judges/jurors/attorneys. Most people are way too disorganized in their thoughts.
It's also pretty high stress. I work in a federal agency as a subject matter expert with a lot of lawyers, though I am not an attorney. They act as a final guardrail for anything we say or do, ensuring that we are in compliance with the law or are not misconstruing statute or regulation. They carry an immense responsibility. |
Anonymous
| It's a pretty low bar to get into law school in the US. There are 100s. It's not all prestigious law firms and big law jobs. |
Anonymous
Are you referring to attorneys in general or DCUM attorneys? |
Anonymous
| I think some electricians are smarter and their job is more intellectually demanding than some attorney jobs. |
Anonymous
| Despite all the hate for lawyers it goes take academic brain power to be a successful lawyer. Also an attorney is different than a lawyer and takes more skill. Attorney is generally business or finance. |
Anonymous
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It depends on what you doing and where you want to go to school. Some do great with just grammar skills and no other ability to process information. Others do great at the people skills.
Plenty of attorneys don't do well at all. |