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Lawyer

Academic programs / Undergraduate degrees / Career opportunities / Lawyer

Lawyer

Explore employment trends, required job duties and skills for this career. ASU offers a variety of degrees that can help you prepare for and meet your career goals. Visit ASU's Career and Professional Development Services to learn how to develop your career plan.

Potential job titles in this career
Attorney, Attorney at Law, Attorney General, Counsel, County Attorney, District Attorney, General Counsel, Lawyer, Prosecuting Attorney, Prosecutor

* Additional schooling, certification, or degrees maybe be required for some of the potential careers that are listed.
What will I do?
  • Interpret laws, rulings and regulations for individuals and businesses.
  • Analyze the probable outcomes of cases, using knowledge of legal precedents.
  • Gather evidence to formulate defense or to initiate legal actions by such means as interviewing clients and witnesses to ascertain the facts of a case.
  • Represent clients in court or before government agencies.
  • Evaluate findings and develop strategies and arguments in preparation for presentation of cases.
  • Advise clients concerning business transactions, claim liability, advisability of prosecuting or defending lawsuits, or legal rights and obligations.
  • Examine legal data to determine advisability of defending or prosecuting lawsuit.
  • Prepare, draft, and review legal documents, such as wills, deeds, patent applications, mortgages, leases, and contracts.
  • Study Constitution, statutes, decisions, regulations, and ordinances of quasi-judicial bodies to determine ramifications for cases.
  • Negotiate settlements of civil disputes.
  • In this career, it is important to know
    Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.

    Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    Administrative - Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

    Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

    Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
    It's useful to be good at
    Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

    Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

    Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

    Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

    Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

    Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

    Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

    Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

    Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

    Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
    Employment trends
    Location Pay period 2025
    10% 25% Median% 75% 90%
    United States Hourly $37.67 $49.51 $76.76 $106.43 $169.04
    Yearly $78,360 $102,990 $159,670 $221,370 $351,600
    Arizona Hourly $41.34 $49.25 $64.55 $85.17 $128.93
    Yearly $85,990 $102,450 $134,260 $177,150 $268,170
    2025 Median%
    United States $76.76 Hourly $159,670 Yearly
    Arizona $64.55 Hourly $134,260 Yearly

    Employment (2024)
    864,800 employees
    Projected growth (2024 - 2034)
    Average (4% to 7%)
    Projected job openings (2024 - 2034)
    31,500
    * Data obtained from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) under sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA).

    Program term definitions

    Accelerated programs allow students the opportunity to expedite the completion of their degree.

    Accelerated master's

    These programs allow students to accelerate their studies to earn a bachelor's plus a master's degree in as few as five years (for some programs).

    Each program has requirements students must meet to be eligible for consideration. Students typically receive approval to pursue the accelerated master's during the junior year of their bachelor's degree program. Interested students can learn about eligibility requirements and how to apply.

    Concurrent degrees allow students to pursue their own personal or professional interests, earn two distinct degrees and receive two diplomas. To add a concurrent degree to your existing degree, work with your academic advisor.

    Joint programs, or jointly conferred degrees, are offered by more than one college and provide opportunities for students to take advantage of the academic strengths of two academic units. Upon graduation, students are awarded one degree and one diploma conferred by two colleges.

    ASU adds new programs to Degree Search frequently. Come back often and look for the "New Programs" option.

    ASU Online offers programs in an entirely online format with multiple enrollment sessions throughout the year. See https://asuonline.asu.edu/ for more information.

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