" (Dana College) There are only a handful of states that allow a person to practice law out of college without taking a bar exam. The Bar exam is given by the state and includes topics such as Contracts/Sales, Real Property, Torts, Evidence, Constitutional Law, and Criminal/ Law Procedure. The bar consists as two parts, competence, and character and fitness. There is a two-hour long multiple choice question test as long as an evaluation of character for those who pass. Many people do not pass the bar exam on their first attempts. Once the bar exam is passed a person can practice any kind of law within the state.
A lawyer's work is just beginning once they pass the bar exam. A novice lawyer generally starts out as a Law Clerk. They will often work at different law firms as assistants to the lawyers that work there. These assistants are called paralegals, whose main job is to do paperwork and research for the lawyer they are working for. Eventually a lawyer can be promoted up through the firm and become a junior partner. Skilled lawyers can be promoted quickly. It also helps to have a degree from a well-known and respected college. This position is just below the partners who created the law firm. Most very successful lawyers are the ones who have partnered with other lawyers and started their own firm. It is possible to start a private practice immediately out of college, though most lawyers work under other lawyers at first to learn what their abilities suit them for and to earn themselves a name and reputation. Government work is also available to lawyers in which the promotion and advancement works quite differently. Through the government many lawyers go on into politics to become Mayors, Congressmen, Senators, and other political positions. "As in the case of Carrie B. Kilgore, who has recently been admitted to the Supreme Court Justice of the State." (Lockwood).
The salary for lawyers is one of the most varying of any profession.
