Yzy Beltrán

Ms. Wright
English 9, Period 2
7 September 2022
Becoming a Lawyer
“Never mistake law for justice. Justice is an ideal, and law is a tool” (LE Modessit Jr.). Lawyers
are the masters of this tool and justice is the thing they fight for. Law is like the rules of the
jungle, if there were no laws or lawyers everyone would just be ripping each other apart because
of lack of accountability. But lawyers are the people who put everything back in place and
instead of using weapons or fists they use reasoning, evidence and their hard-earned years of
education. Being a lawyer means that, despite the minimum 7 years of school, it will all be worth
it for them to have the chance to fight for people and have a big enough impact on society and a
good impact on themselves due to a great salary depending on which lawyer they are. Lawyers
are necessary in a society that wants to progress.
Lawyers are no dummies, there are many things a future lawyer has to go through to
practice law. According to the [Link], you must complete a minimum of seven
years of college after you graduate high school. Four of those years are dedicated to earning your
undergraduate degree, also known as a bachelor’s degree. The other three years go to being in a
full-time law school. Then you must pass the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) which is
offered four times a year. Another important test you must take is the bar exam, but it has to be
in whichever state you want to become a licensed lawyer or attorney in. Some of the top law
schools that [Link] show are Harvard University, Yale University, Stanford University,
University of Chicago, and Columbia University. These schools are the top law schools because
they set incredibly high standards for your GPA scores and LSAT scores. All this useful
education comes with a big price “on the rise, with the average total tuition increasing by $1,065
per year.” and “The average total cost of law school is $205,744” (Hanson). That might not seem
like much, but it takes a lot of patience and perseverance.
The highest amount of money lawyers can receive per year is $180,000. There are 26
different types of lawyers in the United States according to [Link]. The highest paid lawyer
is Patent attorney getting paid $180,000 each year, and the lowest paid lawyer is Public Defender
getting paid $63,000 per year. The average lawyer is paid $148,910 each year. Because there
being 26 different lawyers, salaries per year vary, but it doesn’t make the job less important.
There are many lawyers around the world and that are impacting us to help society
progress. One very important lawyer in recent history is Manda Sertich. She was one of a team
of prosecutors for the George Floyd incident in 2020. The George Floyd case was when a black
man had been suffocated to death by a white police officer with fellow police officers being
bystanders. In the era of the Black Lives Matter movement this was a common situation, but the
prosecutors in this case accomplished a guilty verdict. According to Christy E. Lopez in the New
York Times article “This case is believed to be the first time police officers have gone on trial for
federal charges”. Therefore, lawyers have such a big impact because what she did proves that
lawyer's impact more than their clients and most times impact society.
 That wasn’t the only moment in history when lawyers have had such a grand impact. In
1954 began the Brown vs. Board of Education case. This case was brought up because at the
time schools were being separated by race, there was a separate school for white kids and a
separate one for kids of color. This case among other things was created to prove that “separate
but equal” was not equal. According to [Link] the team of lawyers accomplished verdict
that proved racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional, and schools became integrated.
Although it was a tough transition for children of color, it was needed and successful because of
the lawyers that fought for it. Due to the decisions those lawyers made; schools are now not a
place for racial segregation. Thanks to those lawyers this event had a domino effect creating
other huge moments in history that have brought us where we are today.
I myself have the desire to defend the poor for the cruel injustice that still happens in
court today. I have always been a sucker for arguing and defending myself and others in any way
I can, because I truly know how it feels to have so much to say but too scared to say it, or not be
loud enough. As a very independent middle child with a big family, I used to be often put aside
or not fully heard. Due to this I have learned to make myself the loudest and when I'm stating
something I must completely know how to fully back myself up or get chewed up instantly.
Being a defense lawyer would allow me to fulfil my dream of defending those who need it most.
Being a defense lawyer would also give me a good salary and comfortable life I wish for. This
salary would help me have fun in my personal life which includes traveling the world, which is
one of my favorite things to do.
In the future I see myself having cases like Manda Sertich, and the lawyers from the
Brown vs. board of education case. This job would mean the world to me, and it would benefit
me in the future with all the money I would have for all my necessities and some of my wants.
This isn’t all about the money because it means that I’m fighting for what I believe in and what
others believe in too. Along with that I would gain more knowledge about what people go
through being themselves, and their experiences, which is one of the most important things to
learn about in life, because they won’t always teach that in school.

“Brown v. Board of Education” History. A & E Television Networks, October 27, 2009.

Hanson, Melanie. “Average Cost of Law School” [Link]. November 30, 2021.

Kane, Sally. “What Does a Lawyer Do” [Link]. September 6, 2019.

[Link] “Ex-Officers Guilty in Federal Trial Over George Floyd’s Death”.

Lazic, Marija. “26 Types of Lawyers: The Options and the Practice” [Link]. June 20,
2022.