Lawstudents.ca

I'm starting 1L in September. Criminal law is something that has always interested me.

I'm just wondering if anyone knows what the earning potential here is. Like, if you put in your grunt years, do your time, and work long hours in a big city. I am interested in being a defence attorney, not working for the Crown, although the Crown might be an excellent place to start.

I'm pretty passionate about justice and making sure that people are treated fairly, and if I could make this my career and look forward to possibly being in the newspaper and making lots of money one day, that would be great extra motivation

I'm going to U of S by the way, and I'm also wondering if it's worth doing lots of legal aid type volunteering first year or if that stuff should be saved for second/third year, and 1L should be spent studying hardcore.

minus the part about being in the newspaper, you can sign my name as having authored that post as well.

The earning potential is considerably less than other areas of law. I worked for a criminal lawyer during undergrad; he made a good living, but nothing outstanding. He had to grind out alot of shit files (DUI, assault, etc.) to cover his overhead and operating costs as a sole practitioner. Basically, he took every file that came through the office and hustled day in and day out.

The good files in my opinion are anything drug related (cultivation, distribution, etc.). Typically, there is alot to bill in these matters and the client has the cash to actually pay his bill in most cases. However, most files that I saw were basic s.8 charter arguments that revolved around the execution of a serach warrant. Not exactly the most exciting area of law IMO.

That said, I think criminal law has to be a bit of a passion project if you want to be successful. Collecting legal debts from career criminals isn't exactly easy. Working for some of these charachters is even harder.

Criminal law can make good money, there is potential. But potential is meaningless, it is actualities that matter. The actuality is that a lot of very qualified criminal lawyers make a good living but not outstanding.

Yes, please be active and volunteer. 1L isn't really that time intensive during most of the semester. Not becoming involved and focusing all your energy on success is a good way to be a really good unemployed law student.

This question interested me as well and the response was interesting. With cutbacks to legal aid in BC, it is becoming increasingly hard to earn a living in criminal law. The change has apparently been dramatic. You pretty much want to work for drug dealers in order to make money.

Perhaps you could ask some criminal lawyers for their view in your home province?

Regarding your question about volunteering in 1L, I would say definitely go for it. I was in 1L at UofS this past year and I can tell you that you'll definitely have time for it. I'm not sure how much exposure you'll actually get to criminal law - but the extra curriculars will look good on resumes regardless. Just watch that you don't get so caught up in volunteering that you forget about studying or going to class

This can be very helpful in knowing all information about DUI

So what about working for the DoJ or becoming a prosecutor for the province? What's that process like? If one wished to become a judge down the line, would that be the route to take? Are the cases usually interesting? I want to bully around corporations and litigate white collar crimes, likely down the line?