A person who wants to work as a legal aid attorney for clients who do not have the financial means to pay standard legal fees must first complete the requirements for an undergraduate degree. The next step in the process is for the aspiring lawyer to be accepted into and complete a law school education. If a law student knows from the start that he or she wants to work in legal aid, he or she should select courses that will best prepare him or her for this field.
To be accepted into law school, you must have completed a four-year undergraduate degree. Although some universities in the United States offer pre-law as a program major, students from any bachelor’s of arts or bachelor’s of science program can be accepted into law school. Students from any undergraduate program are considered for law school programs at Canadian universities.
After completing an undergraduate degree, a person interested in becoming a legal aid attorney should apply to law school. This part of the training takes three years to complete. Most universities offer a number of core courses to students during their first year of law school.
Criminal procedure, contract law, civil procedure, and real estate are among the courses that a person interested in becoming a legal aid attorney will take. Torts and constitutional law will also be discussed. Because part of a lawyer’s job entails preparing written communication, such as correspondence, legal memos, and written arguments to be presented to a judge, law school includes legal writing courses.
Students take more specialized courses in their second and third years of study. Because many legal aid lawyers work with clients who are going through a separation or divorce, a person who wants to become a legal aid attorney should make it a point to take family law courses as part of his or her studies. Criminal law is another area where someone interested in becoming a legal aid attorney should concentrate their studies. A person accused of a crime may not have the financial means to hire a private attorney, but that does not mean they are not entitled to competent legal representation.