How to Become an Advocate: Career Guide, Courses, After 12th, Jobs, Scope, Salary

Types of a Advocate 

There are mainly two types of Advocate for which some details are given below:

Practicing Attorney

These types of lawyers can be either Junior or Senior Attorney. Normally, they do not hold an ownership interest in the firm even if associated with the firm for many years. First-year associates are entry-level Advocates and are generally recent law school graduates in their first year of law practice. After gaining experience of many years and getting assigned important and remunerative tasks, an associate has the goal of being made a partner in the firm. They generally refer to an attorney who serves as a research and writing assistant in a judge's chambers. They can be placed in both Lawyer and non-Lawyer firms.

Summer Associates

These Associates are current law students who have completed their second year of study or in first year of law school and they are interning at the business firm for summer.Summer associates have not passed the bar exam and are not attorneys. The summer associate program is often the primary method by which a law firm recruits for full-time associate positions.

How to become a Advocate in India? 

To become a good Advocate, there is a harder route in which candidates have to take commerce or arts streams and they should have the knowledge of all subjects. Work Experience would also be preferable. Some Details about each level of education of a Advocate are given below:

School Level Preparation

Students should have the knowledge of all the subjects in their commerce or arts stream. They should start learning the concepts of Political Science, History and Education. They have to learn English Language also. Candidates can also gain some experience after school level of study. They should have good communication, analytical and interaction skills at their school level. They can improve their communication skills by taking the knowledge of English Language. These skills can help them at the time of their interviews for their placements. Many more things they can study at their school level such as coordination and interaction. They can take some extra classes for better skills.

How to become a Advocate after 12th?

Students can opt for various Undergraduate courses which are offered to pursue the career as a Advocate. After the completion of a Bachelor’s degree, they can go for the Master’s to gain more knowledge and develop their skills.

UG Preparation 

Knowledge of many subjects is required while doing a Bachelor’s Degree such as Business Law, Family Law, Constitutional Law, Law of Crime, Communication and Advocacy Skill, Law of Torts and Consumer Protection and many more. Candidates can do many types of UG Degrees such as LLB, BALLB, BBA LLB, B.Sc.LLB, B.Com.LLB and many more. Certificate Courses and Diploma Courses are also equivalent to these courses but the Duration is higher for UG Degrees. They have to prepare for the Entrance Exam so that they can pursue these UG Courses. After passing the Entrance Exam, they would get an institute to study the program. They have to complete the program successfully so that they can get placed in good companies for a higher package of salary.

PG Preparation 

After doing a UG Degree, Candidates would be eligible to do a Master’s Degree such as LLM, MBL and MBL LLB Programs. Subjects would be the same as that of a Bachelor’s Degree in Law but some extra subjects would be added. Also, the level of study will become higher. People doing a Master’s Degree should be skilled and knowledgeable. They can take computers as a subject also because it would help them to handle their clients easily. They can do online work also. They should have experience at this level of study so that they can get placed in higher companies with a higher salary package.

How to become a Advocate Abroad 

Australia, Canada, US and UK are the best countries in which candidates can make their career in Law. There are many popular Law Firms in Abroad at various locations such as New York, California, Massachusetts, Columbia and Texas. Studying abroad is much better but the number of specializations in India are more than abroad.

UK 

Admission Process 

• Educational Requirements: Candidates studying 4-Year Bachelor’s Degree have to complete 48 UCAS Points from a maximum of 3 A Levels along with GCSE English Language at Grade C/4. Candidates have to complete the IELTS Entrance Exam with a minimum of 7.0 score (6.5 score in each component) while doing the LLB (H) Course. They have to qualify IELTS with a 5.0 score (4.5 score in each component) for the International Foundation Course.
• Other Requirements: While doing a 4-year Bachelor’s Degree, they have to complete a 1-Year Internship. They have to provide 2 years of appropriate work experience evidenced by a full CV and one reference also. They have to complete an in-house literacy test as well as a formal face-to-face interview.

Top Colleges 

US 

Admission Process 

• Educational Requirements: Candidates have to complete the IELTS Entrance Exam with a minimum of 7.0 score (6.5 score in each component) while doing LLB Course. They have to complete Law studies for Master’s Degree. Law schools accept all candidates that finished a Bachelor's degree, regardless of their former fields of study. They have to qualify for the LSAT Entrance Exam, an official exam that tests your critical and analytical abilities necessary for further pursuing a Law degree.
• Other Requirements: They have to complete Internship which is compulsory at US School of Law. They have to give the evidence of work experience in their CV also.

Top Colleges 

Canada 

Admission Process

• Educational Requirements: Age Requirement is more than 21 years for Master’s Programs. Requires IELTS with a minimum of 6.5 score. Merit in 12th class would also be considered along with the Entrance Exam such as GRE, TOEFL and IELTS are considered. Skillset is also required to take admission to Canada Universities. However, Canada is also in the list of top countries which offer various top courses in Law.
• Other Requirements: Internships Placements are also available in various universities. Experience is also necessary. Scholarships are offered up to INR 7.5 Lakhs as graduates.

Top Colleges 

Australia 

Admission Process 

• Educational Requirements: Australia provides mostly Master’s Degrees.An undergraduate degree equivalent to bachelors in law from Australian universities is necessary for that. Students with bachelor's from other fields may also apply if they satisfy the additional criteria. 2 years of minimum work experience is also required along with Proof of English language proficiency.
• Other Requirements: Internships Placements are also available in various areas. Scholarships are also offered in Australia. However, Internships are also provided to improve knowledge of working experience. Work Experience must be of at-least 2 Years.

Benefits of a Advocate 

There are lots of benefits of becoming the Advocate, but some major benefits include:-

Salary

The average starting salary of a Advocate may vary from company to company. Salary is very high for a Advocate in New Delhi as it is the capital of India. Salary Benefit is compulsory to be given to the manager for his/her work. Salary of a Advocate in New Delhi is around INR 10 LPA. Salary Package is different for experienced people. Salary Package for Females is high as compared to Male Gender.

Job Security 

The National Association for Law Placement found that 78% of entry-level associates departed their initial large firms within five years in 2007 and promotions are also rare. Many promotions are done after more than 10 Years. There is a lack of job security in the legal industry such as BigLaw Associates. Though, senior attorneys have more job security than Advocates. In order to make sure that job security is safe, they have to show skills and knowledge to their clients so that they can maximize their job security.

Positive Impact of the Career

Positive Impacts of a Advocate are as follows:

• Advocates can work with Senior Lawyers and professionals.
• They can increase their skills and knowledge by working with top-notch lawyers.
• Advocates get to learn new things.
• They are able to pick up various skills.
• Advocates enjoy a greater salary package after getting work experience.
• They can get many financial benefits.

Unique Experience

Work experience is essential in any field of work. Candidates can gain this at school level by working on weekends and holidays with a company or relative who works in Industries. Potential employers would always appreciate seeing job experience on your CV. A minimum of two years of work experience is required for entrance to a law course. This would assist them in obtaining good employment.

Skills Required for Advocate

Skills required for Advocate are as follows:

• Commercial Awareness: They need the knowledge of current developments in local, national and world business for a law firm and clients. They have to develop trusting relationships to meet the importance of meeting deadlines, keeping costs low and handling information confidentially.
• Attention to detail: They have to maintain accuracy for the success of their career. They have to give a good impression to their clients by avoiding errors in emails and letters.
• Communication: Oral and Written Communication skills are required for a Advocate to build efficiency while working with clients. Public Speaking is also required. These skills should be known since the study at school level.
• Teamwork: They have to build collaboration among colleagues which would help them to trust legal representatives. This would be done by collaborating with a team.
• Information Analysis and Research: Large volumes of information must be read, facts and statistics must be absorbed, data must be analysed and distilled into something manageable is a part of any legal job.
• Organisation: These skills can be known by training and work experience. They have to compete with priorities. Part-time job or membership in a company would be helpful to gain these skills.

• Creative Problem solving: Participating in student contests such as mooting, becoming a student representative, or gaining a seat on your students' union are all effective ways to improve these skills.