What are the pros and cons of being a criminal lawyer?

The pros and cons of being a criminal lawyer relate to high-paying salaries, the ability to start your own business, and expensive and difficult educational requirements. Here are the top pros and cons of being a criminal lawyer:

Pros:

• High-paying salaries

Being a criminal lawyer you get the opportunity to start and maintain a lucrative career. The average salary for a lawyer in the United States is $96,257 per year. And many criminal lawyers can earn well above this figure, especially if they start their own successful law practice, or obtain a position at a prestigious law firm.

• The ability to start your own business

Criminal lawyers have the opportunity to start their own businesses by opening up a private law firm practice. This can lead to high income and also gives you the freedom to determine what cases you take and the number of clients you have. You also get to make many choices concerning how you run your practice, like if you are going to hire other lawyers or not.

• Stimulating field

Lawyers have a stimulating and challenging job. For those that get excited by complex legal theories or getting into the weeds on specific criminal laws and other issues, this is a perfect career choice. It is also multifaceted. In addition to research and knowledge, you must also use the power of public speaking and persuasion to convince a judge or jury of your thesis.

• The opportunity to help people

A criminal lawyer also gets the opportunity to help people in desperate situations. You might get to represent a person charged with a serious crime who you know to be innocent. Getting clients like these "not guilty" verdicts is extremely fulfilling and satisfying. Knowing you can help people and have a strong impact on their lives makes the profession very rewarding.

Cons:

• Expensive and difficult education requirements

Becoming a lawyer is no easy task. Law school is usually very expensive and also extremely challenging. Law school requires an intense amount of concentration and study. There are also very difficult tests, such as the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), and the Bar exam. These tests are infamous for having to be retaken several times in order to pass.

• Stress

Being a criminal lawyer is a high-stress profession. Not only does it require a lot of work, but the consequences of your work can change a client's life dramatically. This pressure is too much for some people who don't want to wield that immense amount of power over another person's life. In addition, mistakes when practising criminal law can also be costly.

Criminal lawyers tend to work extremely long hours. Many criminal lawyers put in workweeks in the range of 60 to 90 hours total. This can make it extremely difficult to achieve a healthy work-life balance and can also adversely affect your home life. Lawyers tend to work full days well past 5 pm, and sometimes well into the night.