To become an assault attorney, you must begin by getting the proper law school degree. You must then proceed to getting work experience in the field of criminal law. Finally, you must begin to develop a reputation as an assault attorney to attract clients.
The process of getting a law degree differs depending on where in the world you live. In the United States, law school is a three-year program that must be completed at an institution accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA). The program is a full-time program that covers a wide range of legal topics. Some schools do offer programs where you can focus your studies on criminal law, but even if your school does not, if you wish to become an assault attorney, it is a good idea to take classes that focus on criminal laws and criminal procedure.
Following the completion of the law school curriculum and earning your Juris Doctorate degree, the next step is to take the bar exam in the state or geographical area where you wish to practice law. The bar exam, like law school, covers a wide array of different topics in addition to criminal or assault law. It is required, however, that you pass the exam before you can become an assault attorney.
After completing the bar exam, you will be sworn in to act as an attorney. As there are no specializations in law school and you can't graduate with a specific degree in criminal or assault law, after taking the bar, you will simply be ready to begin the practice of some type of law. If you wish to become an assault attorney, at this point it is time to begin getting experience in handling assault cases.
To gain this experience, you can go to work for a law firm that handles criminal defense. You can also become a public defender who will defend criminals who are unable to afford to pay for an attorney. You may not be able to pick just assault cases, as you may have to defend people accused of all types of crimes. You can generally, however, request to primarily be assigned to assault cases, especially if you work in a private law firm.
Once you have established experience, you can begin to specialize as an assault attorney. The final step to become an assault attorney will be to make your specialization known to allow you to recruit clients. You can advertise within the bounds permitted by law and otherwise make yourself known as a specialist in assault so more clients charged with assault will come to you for help.
