As you'll see in just a moment, there are quite a few steps to becoming a contract lawyer. In this article, we'll go through them and the reasons why you may want to become one.
But first, let's see what a contract lawyer is and what one does.
What Is a Contract Lawyer?
A contract lawyer, not to be confused with a contract attorney, is a lawyer that specializes in creating and upholding contracts. Contract lawyers can help clients with everything from putting together contracts to mediating in situations where conflicts have arisen between the parties involved in a contract.
For clarity, a contract attorney is an attorney who works for different clients on a contractual and temporary nature. Once they've done the job they were hired to do, they no longer have to work with that client. A contract lawyer can also be a contract attorney, but we need to be clear that despite the similarities in the names, a contract lawyer works on contracts, and a contract attorney works under contract.
What Are the Roles of a Contract Lawyer?
A contract lawyer can work on contracts before they're signed and after they've been signed. Their role before a contract is signed is to ensure the contract is well written and can be understood by other contract lawyers, to ensure there are no loopholes in the contract, and to make sure the contract secures favorable terms for their client.
Once the contract is signed, a contract lawyer may need to mediate or ensure that the terms of the contract are followed. The better the contract, the easier it will be for the contract lawyer to enforce the terms of the contract.
The Qualifications You Need to Become a Contract Lawyer
They don't just let anyone do contract law and if you want to become a contract lawyer, you might be surprised at just how much schooling and education you'll need before you can start. Law, after all, is one of the fields that requires the most schooling.
Let's see exactly which qualifications you'll need before you can start working as a contract lawyer.
Bachelor's Degree
As with anyone looking to do any postgraduate study, you'll have to first complete your undergraduate degree.
The good thing about studying law is that you don't technically have to study it as part of your undergraduate degree, but it certainly won't hurt to include some related classes if you want to.
This is because the requirement for law schools is just a bachelor's degree. Admittedly, it'll look much better on your application to law schools if you have an excellent GPA and classes that have some relation to law, but you'll be afforded quite a bit of flexibility with your choices.
The most common majors studied by law students are law and political science, but it's also quite common for students to major in things like business, economics, English, history, math, philosophy, psychology, and even science. This is also a great time to work on the other essential skills that contract lawyers need as you'll have more freedom in what you study.
No matter what you study, make sure you do well in your classes since it's really your GPA and LSAT results that schools are looking at.
LSAT
LSAT stands for Law School Admission Test and it's pretty obvious what it's for. This is why what you major in during your undergraduate degree doesn't really matter that much; it won't be enough to get you into law school without a good LSAT result.
The LSAT isn't just a pass or fail, either. The very best law schools require excellent results on the LSAT. You should always look at the required LSAT results when applying to law schools.
The average LSAT score is 150 out of 180, with the average Harvard law school student scoring 174. This means if you want a better-than-average chance of getting into Harvard, you're going to have to score around that.
While the vast majority of law schools require the LSAT, it is becoming more common for law schools to also accept the GRE in its place.
JD
A JD or Juris Doctor is the law degree you earn by studying at law school. Like your bachelor's degree, the JD is another degree and that means more schooling.
While a bachelor's degree usually takes 4 years to complete, the JD takes 3 years. This means that you need to set aside at least seven years of schooling to become any kind of lawyer.
Keep in mind that this is full-time study, too!
There are accelerated programs where you can complete a JD in 2 years but this is really only something that should be considered by very gifted students.
The Best Schools to Study Contract Law
There's no perfect way to judge which school would be best for you to study contract or commercial law as every student is different.
What we can say is that these schools all offer reputable and high-quality commercial or contract law programs or specializations.
- Columbia University
- Harvard University
- New York University
- Stanford University
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of Chicago
- University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Virginia
- Yale University
Remember that it's more than just the program that you should consider when applying to law school. You'll want to think about the location and your life outside of your studies. While you won't get lots of free time at law school, it's important for your well-being that there are things you enjoy doing during your downtime.
The cost is also an important consideration and naturally, a lot of these schools are among the most expensive. There are options for scholarships and help with funding, but these vary depending on the school. Either way, these schools are all a good place to start your search.
Make sure you also consider the entry requirements for these schools and the LSAT results that you're expecting to get. It can also be a good idea to hedge your bets by choosing several schools so that no matter how you do on your LSAT, you still have options.
The Bar Exam
You'd think that after seven years of school, you'd be ready to be a contract lawyer, but there's still one last thing you need to do: the bar. The bar exam is basically the qualification that makes you a licensed attorney within a specific jurisdiction within the US.
Each bar is state-specific so you're only a contract lawyer in the state within which you passed the bar, though there are some exceptions. Think carefully about the best cities to become a contract lawyer before you take the bar.
In some cases, a state has reciprocal agreements with other states meaning that the bar in their state is valid in another state and vice-versa provided certain conditions have been met.
The bar exam is not only the last educational hurdle for aspiring contract lawyers, but it's also likely to be the hardest exam they've taken so far in their academic careers.
Around 80% of takers pass the bar and that's during a good year. The exam lasts two days, has multiple parts, and is likely to be the most grueling part of becoming a contract lawyer.
Once you've passed the Bar, though, you can start looking for work as a contract lawyer.
Reasons to Become a Contract Lawyer
After all these hurdles, we wouldn't be surprised if you start questioning if whether all of this is worth it. After all, it's 7 years of school and many really difficult and competitive exams.
Fortunately, the average salary for careers in law is quite high and while there are a lot of factors that affect this (experience, location, specialization), you'll still be able to command a salary far higher than that of the average graduate in your state.
There are plenty of great reasons to become a contract lawyer, after all.
Get Help Becoming a Contract Lawyer
Nobody said it was going to be easy and it's very likely that at some point during your seven years of school, you might need some help.
At the best law schools and colleges for contract law, you'll be able to get help from your fellow students, the faculty, and the other resources made available to students, but sometimes, that won't be enough.
For more help with your studies, you can always look to a qualified and experienced private law tutor. Everybody learns in different ways and a tutor can tailor their sessions to you and how you like to learn.
Private law tutors can also focus on the topics that you find difficult while working to your strengths to ensure that every minute with them is spent effectively learning.
There are tutors for all levels and budgets. Face-to-face tutors tend to charge more per hour as they often have to travel to their students, but you can always look for online tutors as long as you make sure that they're familiar with what you're studying!
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