Index
The lawyer is a professional graduated in higher education with an average duration of 4 to 5 years and duly approved and registered with the Brazilian Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil). A lawyer’s job is basically to defend the interests of her clients based on existing laws in the country, state or municipality, according to the case in which she is working.
Lawyer role
In spite of this, the work of a lawyer is not limited to going to court , since it is important to have previous research work, strategy definition and conversations to have the case as clearly as possible in your mind.
The work of a lawyer is often done almost entirely within offices , working with different types of bureaucracy, providing legal advice to her clients and working with research for their cases.
The profession of law graduates is not historically female , so we can soon imagine that the domain of the area is, for the most part, of men. But despite the historical factor, today the number of women registered as lawyers is practically the same as that of men, even though the most important positions are held by them.
However, this number is still encouraging for a woman who wants to work in the area, since the trend is that there are more and more vacancies for women within the country’s law firms. Another number that contributes to this optimism is the number of young women working in the area, which means that the interest of women in the profession has increased, which forces the market to adapt and welcome these professionals.
What is the Profile of a Lawyer?
Being a lawyer requires that the professional be communicative. Speech is one of its main instruments of work, so having good communication is not only an advantage , but an obligation.
By communication, we must understand that it is not enough just to speak well, but also to know how to listen, reflect and speak within the day-to-day situations of the profession. In addition, having a good argumentative power is also of great help in the day to day of a lawyer.
Characteristics of the Professional
Knowing how to work in a team is also essential for a lawyer to be able to perform her job with excellence, since the profession will often require it. Of course, we cannot fail to mention how a lawyer should deal with her clients.
It is essential that the professional knows how to listen, understand the situation and act with sincerity when treating clients, offering them the best possible solution for each type of situation and never omitting facts or lying to get new jobs.
What Does a Lawyer Do?
A lawyer can act on different fronts within her profession. This breadth of possibilities is positive, as it allows the professional to opt for different branches within her area . In addition, the lawyer also has the possibility to work with what she likes most in law and thus achieve her goals within the profession.
Areas of expertise
Despite having, at bottom, the same objective, which is to work for the law and for their client, lawyers can do this work in the most diverse ways, whether inside offices, defending individuals, defending people , working as a public defender and in many other ways. Some of the main types of lawyers are:
- Civil Lawyer
- Criminal Lawyer
- Labor Lawyer
- Business Lawyer
- Environmental Lawyer
Each type acts differently, defending clients with different interests and who require specific knowledge. For this reason, a lawyer must reflect well on the career she wishes to pursue in order to specialize and obtain the knowledge she needs to perform her role with excellence.
Civil Lawyer
The work of a civil lawyer seeks to defend the interests of her client within the private field , that is, to provide legal advice with respect to important business for the client, reviewing and analyzing civil contracts, such as mortgages, contracts for the purchase and sale of assets, pledge, insurance, consignment sale, among others.
Another important function of a civil lawyer is in the family law field, where she can act in several cases involving families such as property regime, alimony, judicial custody, various types of divorce actions, among other things.
In addition, works as consultancy for wills, for example, are also the responsibility of such a professional. A civil lawyer also has the power to cover other aspects of the law within her practice, such as consumer rights, for example.
Criminal Lawyer
A criminal lawyer has her work located in the areas of criminal and procedural law, that is, where what constitutes a crime or not and what determines how each criminal should be judged.
This is not a quiet area to work, as cases often involve heinous crimes and the work environment is often stressful and tense. It is also important to remember, that any lawyer acts in favor of the law and justice, which means that, at no time, the job of a professional in this area will be to defend a criminal or something that does not believe to be fair, but rather find out the facts and help determine the most correct sentence for each case.
Labor Lawyer
The main function of a labor lawyer is to defend the rights of workers and companies, that is, a professional of the type can represent both an employee and the
corporation itself. The main cases attributed to labor lawyers occur between company and employee relationships , due to payments, FTGS, non-compliance with the CLT, among other cases.
The job of a professional of the type, therefore, is to thoroughly analyze all the facts of the case to defend the interests of her client (or clients, in case of a group case) and to make him leave the process in the best possible way. .
Business Lawyer
Unlike the labor lawyer, who works in the relationship between company and employees, the business lawyer has its main focus on the relations of a company with others or with the government, although it can also accompany and represent its clients in labor, civil or tax proceedings.
However, a good part of the work of a business lawyer is that of legal advice, analyzing social contracts and verifying the best conditions for the company to continue with purchases, sales and other types of contracts.
Environmental Lawyer
The field of work of an environmental lawyer is broad, as the subject covers several areas of law. Even so, the main field of action of such a professional ends up being in cases where there is some kind of accusation of destruction of nature.
Usually this type of professional can represent a company or an NGO against a company, a person or a group of people who are carrying out illegal acts against the environment .
It is important to understand that the role of an environmental lawyer is not a simple activist role in protecting the environment, but rather a figure of protection for nature and its resources, based on the law and serving the interests of clients.
Law graduation
The law course is one of the most sought after and most sought after in Brazil, there are several spread across the country that are offered by both public universities and private institutions.
The average duration of the course is 5 years, while a specialization can last another 2 years. The average monthly fee for these undergraduate law courses can vary considerably from region to region.
In Goiás, for example, the average is R $ 880.00 , while in Brasília, the average rises to R $ 1,400.00. In the main capitals of the country, such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the average monthly fee for a law school is R $ 1,100.00 .
Main Law Faculty in Brazil
- Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) – Belo Horizonte (MG)
- Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) – Rio de Janeiro (RJ)
- University of São Paulo (USP) – São Paulo (SP)
- Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV) – Rio de Janeiro (RJ)
- Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUCSP) – São Paulo (SP)
- Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) – Recife (PE)
- University of Brasilia (UNB) – Brasilia (DF)
- Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRS) – Porto Alegre (RS)
- Mackenzie Presbyterian University – São Paulo (SP)
A Lawyer Career Paths
In addition to all the types of lawyers we mentioned earlier, there are also other ways for a law professional to pursue her career. The public sector is one of them, where there are several possibilities for jobs to work in different positions.
In the private sector, a professional can also find several jobs that are not necessarily within courts or legal consultants. The main ones are:
- Researcher
- Delegate
- Teacher
- Judge
- Federal Attorney
Although there is a difference between the works mentioned here and those of a lawyer, all these professionals need to be duly registered with the OAB and have the same undergraduate training.
Researcher
The professional who works with research in the area of Brazil does not usually receive much attention, even though she performs a fundamental job for the area. The work of a professional of this type aims to feed, review and extend academic knowledge on the area of law in Brazil.
Usually, a researcher works in parallel with another profession as a teacher or within a law firm. In addition, to work in the research area, the professional must have a doctorate or, at least, a master’s degree in some area related to law.
Delegate
A police delegate is responsible for coordinating agents from a given region and leading certain investigations. A professional can act as a civil police delegate at both the state and federal levels.
This is a profession in which the overwhelming majority of workers are still men , but, as we have already said, nothing prevents a woman from applying for a position to hold the position, especially with the growing number of women within the area of law. .
Teacher
A university professor has the duty to teach, support scientific initiations , guide groups and research within her area of specialization. For this reason, a teacher is often also a researcher, but there is nothing to prevent her from working as an active lawyer in an office.
A law professor has a great responsibility to train professionals who will work in the field and make important decisions in the future, so it is important that your work is taken seriously and respected.
Judge
A judge’s job is to prosecute and prosecute lawsuits resulting from conflicts between both legal entities and public persons, as well as conflicts between public and private individuals.
The positions to work in the profession require that the professional be approved in a public competition, in addition to having, at least, three years of experience in the legal area. There are several types of competitions for judges that can be divided between areas such as labor, for example, or between political divisions, such as state or federal.
Federal Attorney
A federal prosecutor basically works as a lawyer for federal public entities. Therefore, the work of a professional of the type ends up being agitated, since there are several cases and processes every day. For this reason, an attorney general needs to be agile and proactive in her work.
How Much Does a Law Professional Earn?
The salaries of this type of professional can vary according to their area of expertise, whether it is in a public or private institution, in addition to also depending on the position they hold. Even so, we can make a general average of the salaries of the main activities of lawyers in Brazil.
How Much Does a Lawyer Earn?
- Criminal Lawyer: 3,107.00
- Labor Lawyer: 3,083.00
- Civil Lawyer: 2,714.00
- Tax Attorney: 3,616.00
- Contract Lawyer: 4,335.00
- Business Lawyer: R $ 3,443.00
How much does a Judge earn?
- Judge of the São Paulo Court of Justice: R $ 24,818.71
- Judge of Federal Regional Court: R $ 27,500.17
- Military Justice Judge: R $ 27,500.10
How Much does a Delegate Earn?
- Civil Police: R $ 10,079.00
- Federal Police: R $ 16,830.85
The work of a lawyer can consist of different elements and can take place in the most varied environments. The routine can be stressful many times and require a lot of patience, especially for those who are not used to bureaucracies.
Still, the law is an area that generates pleasure in several ways , especially when the professional realizes that she is making her contribution so that the law is fulfilled and justice is being effective. Being a lawyer is not a profession for anyone, but everyone who wants to work in the field can choose the most diverse paths to pursue a career .
See also: Nutritionist – What he does and how much he earns
My name is Dr. Alexis Hart I am 38 years old, I am the mother of 3 beautiful children! Different ages, different phases 16 years, 12 years and 7 years. In love with motherhood since always, I found it difficult to make my dreams come true, and also some more after I was already a mother.
Since I imagined myself as a mother, in my thoughts everything seemed to be much easier and simpler than it really was, I expected to get pregnant as soon as I wished, but it wasn’t that simple. The first pregnancy was smooth, but my daughter’s birth was very troubled. Joana was born in 2002 with a weight of 2930kg and 45cm, from a very peaceful cesarean delivery but she had already been born with congenital pneumonia due to a broken bag not treated with antibiotics even before delivery.
