If you like what family lawyers do and want to become one then this information is simply essential to you. As a rule, before you even get the permission to start working in this field you will have to get bachelor’s degree and then a legal degree. All this process in the York region takes a minimum of seven years. So read this article to clarify salary information and employment outlook and what skills you need to become a professional family lawyer in York and its district.
Definition
Family lawyers manage with any legal problems between two or more persons with familial relationships, including guardianship, paternity, emancipation, juvenile delinquency, custody, adoption, child support, and the most frequent one – divorce. In York region most family lawyers work in offices and courts, more rarely in educational settings.
Becoming a Family Lawyer
Education
A professional in family law has to earn a 4-year undergraduate degree (bachelor’s degree) and then acquire a juris doctor degree. In York region many law schools have special concentrations in family law, and some of them also have special family lawyers working in clinics where students can practice working with real cases under the supervision. After completing their degree studies, future family lawyers have to successfully pass their bar exam. Some provinces in Canada might require certification in a specialty field, like family law. And in general, all future family lawyers in York region have to complete their legal education credits on a regular basis and only after that they are allowed to maintain their legal license.
Skills
All beginning family lawyers should be skilled in oral negotiation, discussion and effective persuasion and debate. Any family lawyer has to be very attentive and have good interaction skills, to be able stay a winner in any highly emotional and stressful situations. Family lawyers also need to learn very good time management and organizational skills so that they can manage multiple cases at one time.
Career and Economic Outlook
As in any profession, the average annual salary of professional family lawyers depends on the region they work at. Also based on the investigation held in the York region, those who work or are partners in large companies tend to have higher salaries.
Alternatives
Legal and Paralegal Assistant
If you want to become a professional family lawyer as soon as possible, then the best option for you is to start from becoming a paralegal or legal assistant. Most of professionals in this field have either associate’s degrees or a bachelor’s degree in some other field with a certificate of paralegal studies.
Postsecondary Teacher
Such teachers offer professional instructions in a pretty wide variety of academic subjects, on top of that, they are performing field research and publish books and papers every year. In this field of family law York region investigators calculated that the salary will vary based on the subject matter and location; nevertheless, postsecondary teachers earn the median annual salary of $62,050 (based on investigation in 2010).
