Any lawyers here? Career advice please

[eisen3]

I am also planning to take up law, iniisip ko if at my age kakayanin ko pa maka absorb ng aralin ko. Im in my 30s na. Is there anyone here also in their 30s who pursue law? Any advice is appreciated.Thank you!

I had a classmate who took up law at age 31. He is already a physician that time. The oldest i have known to have taken up law around age 40 plus na.

[sxy_shandy]

I wonder how lucrative being a lawyer in the Philippines is. How much ba salary of entry level lawyer and highest possible salary pag mid-career and/or partner na? I hope bawi naman Ang added investment in education and years of work na pinang-aral instead.
I always loved watching Ally Mc Beal and The Practice growing up pero I read an article after high school na hindi naman talaga ganun Ang real life practice kaya napa-atras ako haha

[eisen3]

I wonder how lucrative being a lawyer in the Philippines is. How much ba salary of entry level lawyer and highest possible salary pag mid-career and/or partner na? I hope bawi naman Ang added investment in education and years of work na pinang-aral instead.
I always loved watching Ally Mc Beal and The Practice growing up pero I read an article after high school na hindi naman talaga ganun Ang real life practice kaya napa-atras ako haha

A new lawyer working as an associate will get around 18,000-25,000. It is low if working in the government. Working in the company for someone with 10 years experience will be around 120k up plus benefits of course

[oshiawase]

^ that's low. I have fresh grad friends who are non-lawyers earning the same amount. I know people who are freshgrads earning more.

Hindi naman talaga mapera ang career ng lawyers. Misconception lang na yayaman agad purkit may atty na before the name.

[jazzlawyer]

Hi! Im a lawyer for 6 years now.

Theres no specialization in Law. If you want a wide range of clientele, you really need to know it all. some law firms have fields in practice because they were able to master that field (example: tax firms and law firms specializeng intellectual property rights). But that doesnt mean theyre closing their doors to other line (ex: crim, family relations etc).

If youre asking is it lucrative? if youre just a mere associate in a law firm, my answer is a Big No. average 20k to 30k. pay is a little bit bigger in corporate field though.  I was in litigation for 2 years and transferred to BPO doing legal outsourcing because it pays MORE  than what I was earning  during my court practice days. 

[paulina19]

Hi Sis Jazz lawyer and other Sisess ,

Am in Dubai, and always dreaming of becoming a lwayer since then.  I mentioned it once to my boss here, am working in Forex trading - Uk based in Dubai related sa Comoliance ang department ko, as Team Leader in Account Opening. But am 40 now, and last week  ask nya ako, if am still interested of taking it up... So nawindang ako coz he is willing to help me seeking approval in our UK - Head office. I want to go on Corporate Law, sis.  Since I have banking background all my life for 15 years jan sa Pinas.  Please help me, do I still capable of pursuing it? and tama ba ang filed path ko? and if I am in Dubai, what course do I need to take, if I want to stay in UK for the next couple of years for my kids studies there, plan ko kasi isend sa UK for college.

Thansk, I will rellay appreciate it siszzes

[jazzlawyer]

im in my 4th year with BPO. less pressure and well compensated than doing pleadings. kasi sa law firm diba every cent you make means hardwork. nakakadrain. hehe.

Legal BPO now is getting bigger. kaya madami samin dito sa office may mga stories to tell. pero majority, nadrain talaga sa litigation.  some of my co-workers here came from those big law firms pa nga. madami from the tops schools pa nag graduate. during my stint in law firm, sobra pati pagtulog iniisip ko yung mga cases. especially if you have a hearing the next day. di pa nga tapos yung isang pleading mo, may isa na naman kelangan mabeat yung deadline. haay those were the days. i miss litigation though. pero to go back? nahh. sideline nalang siguro.

downside lang with bpo is mabagal ang career growth. but yearly increase (as far as my job is concerned guaranteed naman siya). lesser benefits din. well law firms dont havethat much benefits din naman so quits 

why not try doing corporate practice? mas lesser pressure. i worked in a legal department in a bank for months before jumping to BPO. mas magaan ang load.

[jazzlawyer]

before i joined bpo i had 2 years ata in litigation practice . full time.. pero now on the sides nalang. i also started just to get experience. now that im married, kelangan na namin maging practical

we have shifting schedules. 6am to 2pm; 2pm to 10pm; and 10;pm to 6am. 24 hours operation. may iba na nasa graveyard mayday jobs din. i dont know how they do it. although project based sila sa company.

no field work sa bpo

[Blair_w]

Sana meron din homebased sa LPO. I'm free during sat/sun since I work in the gov't and there's nothing I can do during those days! I'm quite bored,hehe and need to earn more kasi di ganun kalaki ang pay sa govt. Though I get to teach on Sundays for college students pero 3hrs lang. plus, there are times sa office that Im not busy which btw, a lot!hehe.

So ayun, problem talaga ng new lawyers is how to earn. If you want to be secured and safe, employment talaga although boring and nasstagnant ang utak ko. Going back to private practice is not an option din,hehe. stress ako pag may hearing tas depende pa sa dami ng clients ang earnings mo. kaya tiis na lang ako sa employment

[honeyblue]

@purple_tips, for a new lawyer wanting lucrative salary, try the government. ok sa judiciary and sa legislative. problem is you might get bored (though i hear this complaint din naman from those working sa firms. sa kanila lang may halong drained. hehe) i suggest joining the judiciary kasi it may be boring pero natututo ka pa din kasi you study cases.
 

[wickedlovely]

before i joined bpo i had 2 years ata in litigation practice . full time.. pero now on the sides nalang. i also started just to get experience. now that im married, kelangan na namin maging practical

we have shifting schedules. 6am to 2pm; 2pm to 10pm; and 10;pm to 6am. 24 hours operation. may iba na nasa graveyard mayday jobs din. i dont know how they do it. although project based sila sa company.

no field work sa bpo

Sounds okay sa BPO ah. Do you need a lot of experience to apply? Or pwede ba fresh bar exam passer?

[jazzlawyer]

^ no need. you will be trained naman once you got in.

[oshiawase]

@purple_tips, for a new lawyer wanting lucrative salary, try the government. ok sa judiciary and sa legislative. problem is you might get bored (though i hear this complaint din naman from those working sa firms. sa kanila lang may halong drained. hehe) i suggest joining the judiciary kasi it may be boring pero natututo ka pa din kasi you study cases.

how much naman salary?

Also, I am planning to go to lawschool kasi. Saan magandang firm mag iNTERNSHIP?

[vainatty]

Hi. Just want to share.

I'm a lawyer too. I was in a law firm for more that three years. Ok yung firm ko coz starting salary was P30,000plus, yearly increase then may allowance ka pa for evry hearing attended and til 18th month ang bonus plus may intl trip every year. Pwede ka pang mag moonlight with your personal cases.

After I gave birth to my baby girl, i decided to leave the firm due to the long working hours and join the government. Ok din yung nalipatan ko na govt agency. Mataas salary grade ko with RATA (recreation and travel allowance) plus allowances from my client government corporations. Pwede kang mag net ng 100K. Downside lang is 13th month lang bonus then you can't do private practice. I stayed for two years there.

Now, im with a univeral bank and it pays really well. I heard dito ang pinaka ok ang pay among lawyers in the banking industry. Guarenteed 16 months plus grocery allowance, superb health benefits, etc. Pwede ka pang mag private practice ng konti.

My point is...sulit maging lawyer. Mapapagod ka sa lawschool pero the return of investment is very good. And unlike regular employees, lawyers have good employment opportunities esp if you graduate from a good school (My bank only accepts from UP, Ateneo and San Beda. Sometimes UST).

Yung mga college classmates ko sa UP who went straight to the workforce ay ok din naman careers nila. They're now managers/supervisors pero maaabutan mo din sila after a few years of legal practice. And of course, there's the prestige of being a lawyer.

Yung lang. Goodluck and study well! 😊

[jepoy22]

^ ms vainatty, would you mind pm'ing me the firms you've worked for?
My gf is still studying in law school (2nd year), and i've been telling her that there are not much opportunities when she becomes a lawyer due to several posts i've seen here.
For now, she's been leaning towards persons (ma'am beth) , property (casis) , and crim pro (OC), so i'm not yet sure if it's possible to get that lucrative first job.
I don't know if she could get really high grades or come within the top20 of bar exam results, but i do know how effective she could be when she working

[oshiawase]

anyone knows a lawyer working in an embassy? I kinda want to be like that. Pangarap ko pa nga sa UK mag take din ng bar exams. XD

[jepoy22]

^ (ot) just curious: you have a japanese username, i was wondering why you're keen in going to UK?

[oshiawase]

^actually, my choices are: UK, US, Japan, Singapore. But I heard it's hard to get masters degree in Japan for foreigners.

[jepoy22]

^ i think its more due to the language barriers. if you have at least JLPT N2, i think you'll be able to manage. Pero i've also heard that there are some courses in certain schools that teach in english....but i'm not sure about that.

[marose17]

The first few years of practice entail hard work and the pay is not commensurate to the hours you put in.  But it will get better, whether you stay in a law firm and work your way up to being a partner, put up your own practice, work in the government (though opportunities for advancement here are limited) or be an in-house counsel.  Many say (and I believe this is so) that working in a law firm really hones your skills as a lawyer and it is more challenging, I suppose, than doing something routine (but I don't think there is anything routine in the work that a lawyer does).  Just like any profession, you really have to work hard.  If you want to get rich quickly, don't be a lawyer but rather put up your own business.

One thing is for sure: if you work hard enough and love your profession, you will never be poor.