Last Updated on January 15, 2023
To those of you seeking the criminal defense lawyer job description, criminal defense lawyer skills or how to become a criminal lawyer salary that pay so needed, you will find the information here. Just go down to read on.
To become a criminal defense lawyer, you must be able to pass a state bar examination and possess a law degree from a school accredited by the American Bar Association. There are 200 accredited law schools in the US. Many lawyers take additional training in specialized areas of legal practice. The most important step for becoming an effective criminal defense lawyer is understanding that your role is that of an advocate for your client. Your primary duty will be to protect this client’s interests within the limits of the law and the ethical standards of your profession.
Criminal Defense Lawyer Job Description USA
Criminal lawyers (also known as criminal defense lawyers) defend individuals who have been accused of committing a crime. They conduct research, analyze cases, and present their findings in court in an effort to gain the defendant’s freedom or negotiate a plea bargain or settlement.
Responsibilities:
- Conduct research and analyze a case to determine a probable outcome and devise an effective strategy to defend your client/s in court.
- Interpret laws for clients and help them to understand their legal options.
- Aim to resolve cases as quickly and favorably as possible.
- Represent clients at arraignments, hearings, and court trials.
- Present evidence to a judge and/or jury should the case go to trial.
- Prepare and draft legal documents, including legal briefs and appeals.
- Negotiate plea negotiations, punishments, and settlements.
- Undergo ongoing training to stay updated about changes and new developments in the legal field.
- Conduct yourself in an ethical and professional manner at all times.
Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in a related field.
- Juris doctor law degree from an American Bar Association accredited law school.
- Passed state bar exam.
- Experience may be preferred.
- Comply with local, state, and federal laws.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Strong critical thinking and research skills.
- Excellent decision-making and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to work autonomously and with a team of attorneys.
- Occasional travel required.
how to become a criminal lawyer
If you are wondering how to become a criminal lawyer, here are some steps you need to take to build a career in this field:
1. Complete higher secondary education and appear for entrance exams.
Towards the end of your 10+2 education or after, you have to prepare and appear for law entrance examinations. You will require an aggregate of 50-60% marks in your board exams to be eligible to pursue undergraduate courses. These are some of the important examinations you should look out for:
- CLAT (Common Law Admission Test)
- LSAT (Law School Admission Test)
- AILET (All India Law Entrance Test)
- SET (Symbiosis Entrance Test)
- Delhi University Law Entrance Exam
2. Complete an undergraduate course in law
You must complete a bachelor’s degree in law from an accredited university or college. There are two ways you can do this. You can pursue an LLB degree, which focuses solely on legal studies or a BA LLB degree, which is an integrated bachelor’s course that also has arts subjects. After completing a bachelor’s course, you are eligible to start your independent practice or to work for a legal firm.
3. Pass the bar exam
After you get your bachelor’s degree, you need to appear for and pass the bar council exam of a particular jurisdiction, to be able to appear in high court or supreme court cases.
4. Pursue a post-graduate law degree
You can pursue advanced legal studies through a master’s course in criminal law, which grants you an LLM (Master of Law) degree on completion. Master’s courses offer scope for specialisation within criminal law.
5. Pursue a doctorate degree in law
If you want to take your legal studies further, you may pursue a PhD or Doctorate in law. This usually requires you to complete a dissertation.
6. Gain work experience
Parallel to your studies or after, you should try to gain work experience under an established criminal lawyer or in a legal firm. Field experience and specialisation are very important for developing a successful career in criminal law.
Criminal Defense Lawyer Job Requirements
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), all criminal defense lawyers need to be licensed with the state (www.bls.gov). To be admitted to the bar association, a written examination is completed in addition to an ethics examination. There is no nationwide bar examination, but the majority of states use the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE).
The states that don’t use the MBE normally use the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE). The MBE is a six-hour examination while the MEE is a three-hour test. The qualifications for most bar examinations include possessing a college degree and graduating from a law program accredited by the American Bar Association.
In May 2018, the BLS reported that professionals in the 90th percentile or higher earned $208,000 or more per year, whereas the bottom 10th percentile earned $58,220 or less per year. Furthermore, the BLS predicts a job growth for lawyers which is as fast as the average through 2028.
Criminal defense attorneys may work for a law firm or begin their own law firm, and can expect to work long hours, particularly when preparing for court proceedings. Their job involves research and case preparation that may include visiting prisons, hospitals, law libraries and other venues relevant to the case they’re working on. After they’ve conducted an investigation of the factors involved in their case they determine the best strategy for court and then utilize that strategy during the trial.
criminal defense lawyer salary
| State | Annual Salary | Monthly Pay | Weekly Pay | Hourly Wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $87,050 | $7,254 | $1,674 | $41.85 |
| New Hampshire | $84,424 | $7,035 | $1,624 | $40.59 |
| Vermont | $79,846 | $6,654 | $1,536 | $38.39 |
| Wyoming | $77,685 | $6,474 | $1,494 | $37.35 |
| Massachusetts | $76,719 | $6,393 | $1,475 | $36.88 |
| West Virginia | $75,636 | $6,303 | $1,455 | $36.36 |
| Hawaii | $74,740 | $6,228 | $1,437 | $35.93 |
| Washington | $74,424 | $6,202 | $1,431 | $35.78 |
| Pennsylvania | $74,356 | $6,196 | $1,430 | $35.75 |
| Montana | $73,406 | $6,117 | $1,412 | $35.29 |
| Connecticut | $73,137 | $6,095 | $1,406 | $35.16 |
| New Jersey | $72,658 | $6,055 | $1,397 | $34.93 |
| Arizona | $72,652 | $6,054 | $1,397 | $34.93 |
| Indiana | $72,186 | $6,016 | $1,388 | $34.70 |
| Rhode Island | $71,739 | $5,978 | $1,380 | $34.49 |
| Alaska | $71,055 | $5,921 | $1,366 | $34.16 |
| North Dakota | $70,669 | $5,889 | $1,359 | $33.98 |
| Nevada | $70,497 | $5,875 | $1,356 | $33.89 |
| Maryland | $70,302 | $5,859 | $1,352 | $33.80 |
| Tennessee | $70,107 | $5,842 | $1,348 | $33.71 |
| Georgia | $70,085 | $5,840 | $1,348 | $33.69 |
| Wisconsin | $70,078 | $5,840 | $1,348 | $33.69 |
| Minnesota | $70,052 | $5,838 | $1,347 | $33.68 |
| Ohio | $69,597 | $5,800 | $1,338 | $33.46 |
| Nebraska | $69,153 | $5,763 | $1,330 | $33.25 |
| South Dakota | $68,605 | $5,717 | $1,319 | $32.98 |
| Utah | $68,504 | $5,709 | $1,317 | $32.93 |
| Alabama | $68,447 | $5,704 | $1,316 | $32.91 |
| Virginia | $68,246 | $5,687 | $1,312 | $32.81 |
| Louisiana | $67,936 | $5,661 | $1,306 | $32.66 |
| Oregon | $67,605 | $5,634 | $1,300 | $32.50 |
| California | $67,564 | $5,630 | $1,299 | $32.48 |
| Kansas | $66,683 | $5,557 | $1,282 | $32.06 |
| Iowa | $66,628 | $5,552 | $1,281 | $32.03 |
| New Mexico | $66,609 | $5,551 | $1,281 | $32.02 |
| South Carolina | $66,100 | $5,508 | $1,271 | $31.78 |
| Florida | $66,054 | $5,504 | $1,270 | $31.76 |
| Colorado | $65,902 | $5,492 | $1,267 | $31.68 |
| Delaware | $65,711 | $5,476 | $1,264 | $31.59 |
| Missouri | $65,398 | $5,450 | $1,258 | $31.44 |
| Oklahoma | $64,271 | $5,356 | $1,236 | $30.90 |
| Idaho | $63,237 | $5,270 | $1,216 | $30.40 |
| Kentucky | $63,107 | $5,259 | $1,214 | $30.34 |
| Maine | $63,026 | $5,252 | $1,212 | $30.30 |
| Mississippi | $62,479 | $5,207 | $1,202 | $30.04 |
| Arkansas | $61,920 | $5,160 | $1,191 | $29.77 |
| Michigan | $61,835 | $5,153 | $1,189 | $29.73 |
| Illinois | $61,585 | $5,132 | $1,184 | $29.61 |
| Texas | $61,025 | $5,085 | $1,174 | $29.34 |
| North Carolina | $56,326 | $4,694 | $1,083 | $27.08 |
criminal defense lawyer skills needed
From the moment you get involved with the criminal justice system, it can be a cumbersome and complicated process to go through. When facing criminal charges, it is critical to have legal representation when it comes to your defense — and finding the right criminal attorney to help you can be a daunting process.
Having legal representation goes far beyond having someone advocate for you in a courtroom. You want to ensure that your attorney has all the skills, knowledge, and understanding of the criminal court system to ensure you get sound advice and reliable representation.
Selecting the right attorney is paramount to protecting your rights and getting a fair trial. Here are ten qualities you should be looking for in your criminal attorney.
1. Integrity
Having representation from an attorney whose practice lives by strong moral principles is extremely important when looking for an attorney. Your attorney is there to protect your rights and to make the right choices and decisions on your behalf.
2. Good Communication Skills
While you want your attorney to communicate well to the judge and jury, they need to be a good listener too. As a client, having an attorney who listens to the account of your case and those involved can help them decide the strategies needed to defend you.
Your lawyer should also effectively communicate with other lawyers or prosecutors involved in your case to negotiate terms and conditions relating to your release or court settlements. Their demeanor in the courtroom is also critical. When presenting a case in front of a judge and jury, your attorney needs to exude confidence and not be intimidated by judges or prosecutors.
3. Caring and Understanding
Being charged with a crime is a scary and stressful scenario. Having an attorney who is understanding and empathetic to your situation can help ease your emotional stresses. Your lawyer should have concern for your safety and well-being and understand the emotional impact that it can have on your family members as well. They should also be conscious of minimizing public exposure so you can maintain your privacy.
4. Good Research and Investigation Skills
Criminal defense involves a lot of research and time — and you can’t afford to have an attorney walk into a courtroom on your behalf and just “wing it.” Each case is unique, and a cookie-cutter approach to your defense won’t work. Your attorney should be keen on doing legal research of other similar cases, as well as taking a deeper dive into your specific case to find anything that may have been overlooked that could point to your innocence or lessen the charge.
5. Analytical Skills
When it comes to negotiating terms, challenging the prosecution, or closing arguments to the jury, your attorney must demonstrate sharp thinking and quick rebuttals when it comes to your defense in the courtroom.
6. Aggressiveness
In the defense of your criminal case, aggressiveness, at certain times, can be necessary. When used at the right time and place, it can be an advantage. An attorney who is passionate about advocating for your rights and using aggressiveness at the right time can result in a better outcome for you.
7. Approachability
When you hire an attorney to represent you in a criminal case, this is the person you are counting on for the best possible results. You want this person to be someone with whom you are comfortable. You want them to be approachable and capable of communicating with you on a level that you find relatable.
8. Criminal Law Experience
After completing their education and passing the bar exam, most attorneys move into an area of specialization. That translates to each attorney deciding to work in a specific area of the law.
If you are facing severe criminal charges, you don’t want to put your freedom in the hands of an attorney who handles mostly civil cases. You want an attorney who knows their way around the criminal justice system. Better yet, there is value in you finding an attorney who has an abundance of experience with the specific crime or crimes of which you are being charged. When interviewing criminal defense attorneys, they should supply you with case studies and successes they have achieved.
9. Connections to the Local Legal Community
In every city, county, and state, the legal community has a very distinct structure. Attorneys know prosecutors, and everyone knows the presiding judges. If you are facing criminal charges in Miami, it should make sense that you want a well established Miami criminal defense attorney advocating on your behalf. Through their reputation and involvement in the local legal community, they will know how to get things done and who to call on for important information.
10. Confidentiality
When you discuss your case with your lawyer, everything you say is confidential and should always remain between you and your attorney. Not only can breach of confidential information hurt your case, but it’s also an unethical act on behalf of your lawyer. This is often referred to as an attorney-client privilege — and it’s your right to have privacy when it comes to your case.
