3 Ways to Prepare to Be an Auto-Accident Lawyer During Law School in Ways Other Than Attending Class

The first step to becoming a car-accident lawyer is attending law school, but mastering the legal system is far from the only thing you'll need to do if you want to be a successful auto-accident lawyer. If you're attending law school and hope to become a car-accident lawyer, here are some things you can do—other than going to class—that will prepare you for your future career.

Join a Social Club Outside of Law School

As a law-school student, you likely enjoy discussing the details of laws with fellow classmates. Once you're done with law school and representing clients, however, you won't be debating intricate laws with fellow attorneys. You'll have to explain the law in simple, layperson terms that the average juror can understand. Governing notes that some jurors have less than an 8th-grade reading level. If you can't talk to them in terms they understand, a jury may not be able to follow your reasoning—and they may award the case to your opposition.

To make sure you don't lose touch with the average citizen, join a social group that's outside of law school. Play pickup basketball, participate in a religious community, volunteer at a homeless shelter, or be part of a comic-book club. Do anything that keeps you connected with non–law school students so that you don't forget how to talk with people who don't speak the legal vernacular.

Additionally, if anyone in the social group you join asks you about your studies, explain what you're learning until they change the subject. You don't want to drive them away with your talk, but the more you discuss law with non–law school students, the better you'll be able to break complex legal concepts down into simple terms.

Develop a Reading Habit

You'll need to read thousands of pages during law school, but plowing through book after book is different from developing a reading habit. Along with making it through all your required reading, get in the habit of reading for professional development a few minutes each day. If you spend three years reading in the morning or evening each day, you'll be in the habit of reading regularly, and you'll likely continue to advance your knowledge for years after law school.

Start a Filing System

Having robust files of statements, analogies, and quotes you can use during a trial will greatly speed up your trial-preparation process. Although many lawyers don't start such a file system until they're out of law school, there's no reason why you can't begin one now. Anytime you hear a great opening statement, anecdote, or explanation of a complex idea, write it down and file it away. Your professors have likely culled some of the best illustrations used by lawyers, and you're free to use them once you're working on car-accident cases.

Go to Seminars for Car-Accident Lawyers

It might not seem like you have time for any learning besides what you're soaking up in class, but try to make time to attend seminars that are specific to the area of law you want to practice, car-accident cases. Most seminars won't focus on abstract legal arguments, which your classes may focus on. Instead, seminars will give you practical tips and applicable ideas to use when you begin practicing law.

You'll also be able to network at seminars. Talk to everyone you can when you're attending a seminar for car-accident lawyers, as you never know which connection will lead to an internship or job. Because everyone at these events is in auto-accident law, they're all promising connections. For more ideas for becoming a car-accident lawyer, consider talking to lawyers at a firm such as Knafo Law Offices.


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