Family lawyer Houston practices in the district and family courts, assisting clients with divorce, custody, child support, and other family and domestic law facets.
A skilled family lawyer can help ease the tensions of a dissolving marriage while ensuring his client receives their fair share of the marital assets and that the children’s best interests are accounted for.
Career In Family Law And Child Visitation Attorney
Pursue A College Degree
– When you go to law school, you are earning a graduate degree. To apply and attend law school, you must first make a four-year undergraduate degree from an accredited college.
– Family law is governed by state law and procedures. To get the best preparation for a career as a divorce lawyer, you should strongly consider earning your undergraduate degree and a law degree in the state where you want to practice.
– Many colleges also have a law school. The law school may have streamlined or preferential application procedures if you receive your degree from the affiliated undergraduate institution.
Choose Your Undergraduate Field Of Study
– The American Bar Association does not endorse any particular coursework for entry into law school. A broad-based liberal arts degree with coursework in history, psychology, art, literature, and political science will give you the analytical skills needed to succeed in law school.
– Do not feel pressured into a defined “pre-law” or criminal justice track.
– Your undergraduate grade point average (GPA) is one of the critical factors in law school acceptance. Choose a major that you will excel in and give you the base you need to thrive in the grueling law school environment.
– If you want to attend the law school associated with your college, meet with an admissions officer as soon as you can, no later than your junior year.
– The two schools may have streamlined procedures to assist you in enrolling from undergraduate to graduate school.
Apply To Law School
The American Bar Association accredits 200+ law schools in the United States. Attending any one of these schools will qualify you to take the bar exam in the state where you want to practice.
– Alabama, California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, West Virginia, and Tennessee allow graduates of law schools that are ABA non-accredited to take the state bar exam. The schools are approved by state standards but do not meet the ABA standards.
– The disadvantage of these schools is that you will likely only be able to practice in that state, and that may limit your future employment opportunities. The advantage may be lower cost and more flexible class schedules.
Focus Your Interests In Your Second Year Of Law School
– In your second and third years of law school, you will be able to take elective courses. As a budding divorce lawyer, you will have the option to take classes in family law, women and the law, and children’s law. As many family lawyers are solo practitioners, you should also consider taking a course on law office management.
– Depending on your school, as a 2L, you should be eligible to start working in the law school clinics. If your school doesn’t have one on family law, participate in any program that gives you heavy client contact, such as elder law. Good people skills and the ability to interview clients are critical to success as a family lawyer.
– If your school offers courses in mediation, or even better, a certificate in mediation or Alternate Dispute Resolution, strongly consider enrolling.
– As more and more courts are referring contested divorces to mediation, this is an excellent qualification to have. It can boost your private practice or make you more attractive to a law firm.
Getting Licensed to Practice Law As A Family Lawyer Houston And Child Visitation Attorney
Take The Bar Exam
His exam is offered twice per year, in February and June. Typically, you take the exam closest to your graduation date. Depending on your state, the bar exam is a grueling two to the three-day event, including a combination of multiple-choice and essay examinations.
Conclusion
Another way to break into the divorce law market is to specialize. When you specialize, you become an expert in one particular area of divorce law, and you know it so well, people hire you for your services.
For example, some divorce lawyers only represent the female or the male in divorce proceedings. Also, consider specializing in gay marriage divorces considering the recent changes in marriage law.