Legal Career in Criminal Law
Crime is always on the rise notwithstanding our relentless effort to curb it. It is a universal phenomenon. So is the demand for criminal lawyer, and openings in criminal law career. If you have decided to take up criminal law as your career, here are some tips on the areas where you can succeed.
Criminal Law Practitioner:
Needless to mention, criminal law is the most lucrative area of law to practice in. If you are an eminent lawyer your dignity in society is somewhere above others for sure. People will not mind keeping themselves wait for hours together to get an appointment with you. But all these things will not happen on one fine morning. You need to put your heart and soul in to it, if you want to become a prominent criminal lawyer in your city. It is always advisable to start your career in a low profile. You can start your office at your residence itself. By the side of it, start enhancing your contact with the local police station, create a good rapport with your clientele, which would spread your name through word of mouth. Don’t say no to anyone. Try to take up any case, how small it may be. This would make you known in your city of practice. Keep Improving your analytical skills and communication skills. When you appear before the jury, keep your cool and be as humorous as possible but at the same time do not lose a chance to prove your sharpness and mettle. Criminal cases are high rewarding ones so you will start earning from the first cases itself. You may need to slog for the first few years to get established. Once you are established yourselves; there will not any looking back. There are even big corporate in the queue to hire you as their attorneys.
Do not waste so much of time working under a senior Lawyer:
You can work under senior lawyer for a short time but not for a long period. Since you have the internship experience when you are doing your graduation in law, you will be aware of most of the court proceedings. Then, why do you again spend time on it, practicing under a senior lawyer? You will be able to improve your efficiency only when you start practicing independently.
Judicial Clerkship at Appellate Courts:
Judicial clerkship is a stepping stone from where you can choose your career path in criminal law. If you wish to go for masters in criminal law in the US, you, first, go for your judicial clerkship. It is always advisable to do it under a Supreme Court judge, form where you will get a chance to well acquainted with some of the famous cases and its judgments. Also you can improve you knowledge on criminal proceeding by reading famous cases and the criminal journals.
Lecturer in Criminal Laws
If you have more flair for the teaching profession, you can try for the post of lecturers in Law Schools in the US. Lawyer is a very high paying profession and you will get more time to be with your family as well. Moreover, teaching is a noble profession and you can be proud of being in the status of a teacher. To become a lecturer in a law school in the US, you need to have master degree in Law from a recognized University. You can clear some refresher courses in between to keep yourselves in the race of competition for promotion. Some law schools guarantee you teaching job once you complete your masters in law.
Research Fellowship:
There are so many options if you wish to continue your studies on criminal law on fellowship. Centre for Crime and justice at New York University, International centre for Criminal Justice, Stanford Criminal Justice Centre, are some of the most popular centers to pursue your fellowship programs on Criminal Law, You can contact the program co-coordinators on mail. The details of the program are there on the websites also. Some centers provide internship with stipend and without any remuneration. You may have to submit the substantial papers to show your interest in the area of criminal law; otherwise they may not entertain your candidature for fellowship. Once you are selected for fellowship, you will be given a chance to pursue your research work and you will be permitted to take classes there. The centre might absorb you in the future.
Likewise, there are lot many other areas where you can prove your mettle as an expert in criminal law.