Skills and Experience Required to become an Environmental Lawyer
Environmental lawyers deal with statutes and regulations involved with protecting the environment. Becoming an environmental lawyer requires hard work and a great deal of education. A person does not wake up one day and become an environmental lawyer, they first must take a series of steps to establish their qualifications to do so.
Complete A Legal Education
An environmental lawyer is a specialized type of attorney. Before someone can achieve this career goal, they must first become a qualified attorney. To become a lawyer, you must first complete an undergraduate college education. You must then take the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), and gain acceptance to an accredited law school. (Currently, there are202 accredited law schools, approved by the American Bar Association, or ABA). Law school itself is three years of rigorous course work that requires intense study and a complete time commitment. After these three years of law school, every state (except for Wisconsin) requires attorneys to pass the bar examination. Thebar examinationis a test designed to determine whether a candidate is qualified to practice law in a particular state.
Experience
Completing a legal education is simply the first step to becoming an environment lawyer. Another important requirement is experience. A great way to start would be to find a job at a law firm thatspecializes in environmental issues. Environmental law encompasses a wide variety of positions. Some environmental lawyers draft contracts that take into account environmental protections, or may sue companies to protect the environment. As you gain more experience, you will get a sense of the different types of environmental law, and what aspects of this career interest you.
Skills Required
There are also a number of important skills necessary to become an effective environmental lawyer. An environmental lawyer should have strong written and verbal skills, capable of forcefullyarguing a positionand convincing other people of their point of view. Another important asset as an environmental lawyer is a deep love of the environment. If you are working to protect the environment, you should have an investment in what you are fighting to accomplish. A background inenvironmental scienceis also helpful to have a greater understanding of the complex environmental issues you may face on a daily basis.
While the path to becoming an environmental lawyer may be difficult, it can be a very rewarding career for someone who cares about the environment and hopes to make a difference. If you think the career of an environmental lawyer is right for you, develop a plan on how to achieve this goal, and set yourself on a path to accomplish it.
