Litigation lawyers perform a variety of duties for businesses and individuals both inside and outside a courtroom, including representing clients at trial, providing legal advice, negotiating disputes, preparing legal documents and investigating legal issues. Their jobs require a large amount of legal knowledge, excellent communications skills, strong critical thinking skills and personal qualities, including integrity and the ability to tolerate stress. Although some lawyers work for a firm, many choose to be self-employed and have their own law office or go in with partners. To become a litigation lawyer, you will usually need to earn a law degree from an accredited school, pass the bar exam and meet the licensing requirements of your area.
To become a litigation lawyer, you first need to earn a bachelor's degree and be accepted into a law school program. You can select from a wide variety of majors for your undergraduate degree, and most law schools do not require a specific major to enroll. Although your major can be unrelated to law, it's a good idea to take courses in government, law, communications, management and public speaking. This will help prepare you for the difficult coursework required by the law degree. At the end of your undergraduate education, you usually need to have a specific grade point average and successfully pass an exam to get into law school.
The Juris Doctorate is the most common degree needed to become a litigation lawyer, and you must find a school that is approved by your country's accreditation body for legal professionals. The degree typically takes at least three years, and you usually have to take a comprehensive exam called a bar exam after you finish the degree. The bar exam differs in each country, and many students take a separate review course to prepare for it. After you pass the exam and meet your country's additional licensing requirements, you can use your knowledge to become a litigation lawyer.
Besides the legal knowledge required to do the job, both oral and written communication skills are critically important in the legal field. Representing clients at trial requires excellent oral communication skills, because you will need to be able to speak clearly and effectively. Listening skills also are important, because you'll need to listen to critical information from clients and others in the courtroom. Litigation lawyer jobs also require clerical and managerial skills, so you will need to be able to organize files and manage other people.
