Help with Law firms and majoring for LAW?

[demarco]

I feel so confused. I am a senior in high school and the other day my folks sat me down and had a “what will you do for the rest of your life” talk with me and they tried to plan everything out for me- in one day!!! LOL (my folks are FOBS (fresh off the boat) and they’re super serious about life goals and such :D) So I thought about it, and I told them I, for sure, want to be a private criminal prosecutor attorney. They make good money (70,000 bucks beginning and like 160,000 after YEARS of practice!) The work isn’t that bad and I find most of it really interesting and it seems like enough time for family. I am a girl so I know how important it is to have enough time for kids and your husband and w/e. I get that and I told my parents that too, and after all that they were happy with my decision (they wanted me to be a doctor but they also like my idea as well!). But after thinking, I decided I wanted to start my own firm. I would do criminal justice. And if I did start one, I would hire others for other departments like, Immigration, Bankruptcy, Corporate, etc… But I have NO clue where to start. Like I am just speechless. I know NOTHING about business or anything of the such. What do I do??? Please help!!

[camdin90]

I feel so confused. I am a senior in high school and the other day my folks sat me down and had a “what will you do for the rest of your life” talk with me and they tried to plan everything out for me- in one day!!! LOL (my folks are FOBS (fresh off the boat) and they’re super serious about life goals and such :D) So I thought about it, and I told them I, for sure, want to be a private criminal prosecutor attorney. They make good money (70,000 bucks beginning and like 160,000 after YEARS of practice!) The work isn’t that bad and I find most of it really interesting and it seems like enough time for family. I am a girl so I know how important it is to have enough time for kids and your husband and w/e. I get that and I told my parents that too, and after all that they were happy with my decision (they wanted me to be a doctor but they also like my idea as well!). But after thinking, I decided I wanted to start my own firm. I would do criminal justice. And if I did start one, I would hire others for other departments like, Immigration, Bankruptcy, Corporate, etc… But I have NO clue where to start. Like I am just speechless. I know NOTHING about business or anything of the such. What do I do??? Please help!!

[camdin90]

I very strongly suggest you do some more research on the legal profession before embarking on your plan. If you're in the US, there is no such thing as a "private criminal prosecutor attorney." Prosecutors work entirely for the government. Private criminal attorneys are for defense only. And nowhere in the US will a prosecutor (or even a private attorney in any field of law) make $70,000 starting pay. MAYBE if you graduate from Harvard, Yale, etc. AND have serious connections AND choose something like corporate law. But the reality is going to much, much lower, especially for criminal law. Just by way of example, I live in one of the more expensive parts of California . . . a starting District Attorney (criminal prosecutor) makes $40,000/year, and tops out around $105,000 after 15+ years of service. The top earning private attorneys in the area MIGHT make $160,000 a year, but those are the guys who've been practicing for over 30 years and specialize in the high-money cases.

I'm not trying to discourage you from pursuing a legal career. But you need to go into it with open eyes, otherwise you will be sorely disappointed, jaded, bitter, and never be truly successful. I would suggest you maybe find a local law office (or the local prosecutor's office) willing to hire you on as a legal secretary or something similar. Get to know the attorneys, what's involved in a legal career, what kind of living they actually make, etc.

[jolie]

There is no such thing (in the u.s.) as a "private criminal prosecutor attorney." In the u.s. all criminal prosecutors work for a government.
I am not sure what you want to know. If you are in the u.s. and you want to start a law firm, then go to college and get a BA. Then go to law school and get a JD. Then pass the bar exam for the state where you wish to practice.

[shen86]

Agree with du nomad on most points, except that entry-level biglaw salary (for people fresh out of law school) is $145-160,000/year. In a better economy, attorneys at these firms also received large bonuses, but those are essentially gone now. Most attorneys will never start out making that kind of crazy money. Biglaw is very competitive and you really need to go to a top law school to have even a 50-50 shot (and, realistically, the odds are worse than that right now), but again, the $160,000/year is the going rate for entry-level attorneys in biglaw, not after 30 years of experience.

For most other firms, expect to start out between $40,000-60,000/year.