Personal injury law or tort law helps individuals to claim relief for the damages suffered because of a third party. The third party can be a government agency, large corporation, medical institution or a person. Personal injury law deals with charges such as assault, trespass, battery, negligence etc. Personal injury law is categorized into three broad categories. These are:

* Intentional torts
* Negligent torts
* Strict liability torts

Educational Requirements to Become a Personal Injury Lawyer

Individuals who wish to take personal injury law as a career field should have completed a four-year degree course and a law degree from a accredited institution. After completing the law degree an individual is required to pass the following bar exams:

* Multistate Bar Examination (MBE)
* Multistate Essay Examination (MEE)
* Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE)

After passing these examinations, it is important for an individual to get certified by the American Bar Association to be recognized as a specialist in personal injury law. Some of the best institutions to study personal injury law are

* Harvard Law School
* Stanford Law School
* Yale Law School
* Columbia Law School
* University of Chicago Law School
* Cornell Law School
* Georgetown University Law Center
* Northwestern University School of Law
* University of Michigan Law School
* University of Pennsylvania Law School

Job Description of a Personal Injury Lawyer

A personal injury lawyer has to research all the aspects of the case to determine whether he or his law firm would benefit from representing the client. If he feels that the case is strongly in his client’s favor, then he starts the paperwork for the case by conducting researches, interviewing clients and evaluating the strategies. Some other duties and responsibilities are

* A personal injury lawyer has to gather evidence that can be produced in court like medical records, police records, etc.
* He has to prepare legal briefs and testimonies for case preparation.
* Personal injury lawyers are entrusted with advising corporate clients on various legal matters as large organizations are most vulnerable to lawsuits.

These were some of the duties and responsibilities of a personal injury lawyer. The demand for personal injury lawyers has increased in the last few years and the employment outlook for this field is positive. Let us now more about the career opportunities and average salary of a personal injury lawyer.

Employment Outlook and Average Salary

Like other branches of law, personal injury lawyers either work independently or with a firm. Initially, they work as associates, but with experience, they can work as partners in a firm. The lawyers who work independently usually work for lower fee and are willing to take up smaller cases. The employment outlook for personal injury lawyers is positive with estimates pointing out that this field will see a growth of 13% by the year 2018.

The average salary of a personal injury lawyer depends on certain factors like the state that they are working in and the size of the firm that has employed them. The salary range for personal injury lawyers in America is between $51,700 to $90,000. New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are the cities that offer the best compensation packages to personal injury lawyers. As far as the state wise ranking is concerned, California leads the list, followed by New York and Florida.

This was some information on the average salary and employment outlook of personal injury lawyers. As accidents, bankruptcy cases, work related accidents continue to rise, personal injury lawyers are being sought after by organizations and individuals. A career as a personal injury lawyer is financially rewarding and provides you with numerous growth opportunities for advancement. In the end, we hope that this article would have helped you know how to become a personal injury lawyer and given you an insight to this field of law.

Armbruster, Dripps, Winterscheidt & Blotevogel, LLC is a Illinois and St. Louis personal injury, railroad accident, maritime injury, and wrongful death law firm—representing individual plaintiffs across the United States who suffer serious injuries due to negligence or corporate misconduct. Based in Alton, Illinois, each attorney represents clients in state and federal courts throughout Illinois and Missouri as well as across the United States. They are trial attorneys dedicated to obtaining full compensation for client injuries.

Lawyers also called attorneys represent the parties in court cases or trials. They argue and present evidence either in support of or against the parties. They educate their clients about their legal rights, obligations and instruct in business or personal matters. Whether they are defending or prosecuting, lawyers must the laws and judicial decisions that would apply to their case. Lawyers job depends upon his/her field of specialization:

Private lawyers focus on civil or criminal law representing private individuals. They pursue litigation; deal with wills, contracts, trusts, leases, etc.

Trial lawyers specialize in trial work; they should be able to think and speak quickly with ease and authority. They are found mostly found outside the courtroom, conducting research, interviewing the clients, witnesses and other details that help prepare a trial.

Corporate lawyers work solely for corporate advising them on legal issues related to its businesses like patents, property interests, agreements with unions, government regulations, and contracts with other companies.

Lawyers who specialize in intellectual property law protect their clients claim to copyrights, product designs and creative works.

Patent lawyers advise on patent laws allowing the client to protect their new invention of a product or a process.

Insurance lawyers work with insurance companies. They advise on legal issues related to insurance transactions, writing policies, protecting the companies from unwarranted claims and actions.

Lawyers specializing in environmental law act for waste disposal companies or construction firms whose works deal with environmental issues. The help prepare and file for licenses and applications for activities, which may affect the environment.

Government lawyers on state level work as prosecutors, attorney generals, public defenders for the government, while at federal level; they investigate cases for department of justice and other related agencies. They help in developing programs, drafting and interpreting laws and legislation for the government.

Some lawyers work for law school or teach in non-academic environment. There are lawyers who work for legal aid societies like non-profit organizations for disadvantaged people handling more of civil cases. Bankruptcy, probate and international laws are other areas of specialization.

Lawyers mostly work in their offices, courtrooms, and law libraries. Those practicing privately have irregular working hours, while salaried ones have regular hours. They face tremendous pressure when their case is being tried in the court. Lawyers hold meetings either at clients home or at office, hospitals or at prisons. They have to travel to meet people, gather evidence, and appear before courts or any legislative authorities to present their case.

No lawyer can practice law without a license. Studying to be a lawyer is not an easy task. Educational pre-requisites for lawyers is four year college degree followed by three years in law school and thereafter passing the written bar examination. If one does not appear for bar exam, he/she is not called a lawyer and cannot practice.

There is intense competition for admission to most law schools. With large number of students graduating from law school every year, graduates with high ranking academic records from well known law schools have the best lawyers job opportunities. If a lawyer is willing to relocate to a new country or state, he/she has to take additional examinations to be a licensed practitioner.