Things No One Tells You About Being a Lawyer

(in Australia)

When you’re studying law at university, you hardly learn anything about being a lawyer.

It is a fair point since not all who study law become lawyers.

But if you do want to become a lawyer, there are a few things about being a lawyer that they don’t tell you at university.

I know that when I was in the process of becoming a lawyer, there were a few things that surprised me.

Now, let’s dive in.

1 – It costs $880 to get admitted

Yes, there is an admission fee when you become a lawyer.

Depending on the state you apply for, it can range from $800 to $1000 (give or take).

I only knew about this when I was in my last year of law school, and one of my colleagues was submitting all their paperwork for admission. Needless to say, learning that you need to pay an admission fee surprised me.

So, don’t say I didn’t warn you about the fee when you apply for admission!

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RELATED: My 3 Regrets from Law School

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2 – It also costs around $600+ to renew your practicing certificate (and this gets higher as you progress further in your career)

On top of getting admitted, you also need to apply separately for your practicing certificate. There is also a fee for this.

If you are already working in a law firm, most law firms cover the fee for your practising certificate.

Another thing to know is that the fee gets higher as you progress in your career. For example, when you are going from a supervised to unsupervised practicing certificate, or if you become a principal of a law firm.

3 – Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

This is known as CPD points.

Every year, you need to complete 10 CPD points before you renew your practising certificate.

You also need to have at least one point in the following categories:

• Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility
• Practice Management and Business Skills
• Professional Skills
• Substantive Law and Procedural Laws

There are a lot of different ways that you can get your CPD points. You can do them through seminars, webinars, or courses (you can check the website of your state’s admission board for their specific requirements). I have found that when you do a Google search, you’ll be able to find something.

4 – You have an supervised practicing certificate for some time, THEN you can get your unsupervised practicing certificate

Yes, so this means that you can’t just open your own law firm right away. You need to be supervised first.

Which honestly makes sense because when you are starting in your career, you need some guidance and full supervision.

You can check your state’s admission board’s website on how long you’ll need to be on the supervised practicing certificate before you apply for the unsupervised one.

5 – You apply for more skills from your PLT than uni

I felt that my experience with Practical Legal Training was more beneficial than university.

This is because you learn the skills you actually need as a lawyer in the PLT, and do much more practical application.

All the skills and techniques that I have now as a lawyer, they came from the PLT. These include people skills, writing skills, and communication skills in general.

To Wrap Up

These are things that they don’t tell you about being a lawyer:

1. It costs $$$ to get admitted
2. You also have to pay the fee for getting the practicing certificate unless your employer pays for it
3. You’ve got to do your CPD points
4. You need to get the supervised practicing certificate before the unsupervised one.
5. You apply more skills from your PLT than at university

I don’t know about you, but no one mentioned any of these while I was studying at university. I didn’t know about these until either my final year or during the lawyers’ admission process.

But when you think about it, while they can be annoying, it makes sense. Just like every other career, you need to pay fees to maintain your licence, do the training, and apply your skills.

So, hopefully this gave you a bit of a heads up on the little things you can expect in the law school to lawyer process.

-Lauren 🙂

P.S I suggest reading these blog posts next:

• How Hard Was it to Get a Job After Failing 8 Classes?
• Resume & CV Tips for the Legal Field
• 6 Tips for New Paralegals

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