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Reviewed by:
Former Head of Pre-Law Office, Northeastern University, & Admissions Officer, Brown University
Reviewed: 01/18/23
If you want to become a lawyer who can right the wrongs of accidents and negligence, read on to learn more about personal injury law.
If cases involving injury interest you, and you’re passionate about compensation, becoming a personal injury lawyer might be the perfect path for you!
This guide will cover everything you need to know about how to become a personal injury lawyer and what you can expect during this career.
You’ll have to take several steps to become a personal injury lawyer.
The first step you’ll have to take is obtaining an undergraduate degree from an accredited university.
While many students major in Political Science as their pre-law major, you can choose to major in any subject that interests you the most since you’ll have to maintain a high GPA to get into a good law school.
Take diverse courses to expand your knowledge base and develop various skills that will prove helpful in law school, such as reading and writing, critical thinking, analytical thinking, memorization, research skills, and reasoning skills.
While you’re still finishing your undergrad, you should choose your top law schools to ensure you meet their admissions requirements, like their median GPA.
Every law school will give you experience with tort law, which is what personal injury is, so you don’t necessarily have to choose a specific law program to gain experience in this specialty.
However, consider choosing a law school that offers you externship opportunities and experience in legal clinics involving tort cases. This will help you make the most out of your legal education and boost your resume!
Sometime during your undergrad or after, if you choose to take a gap year, you’ll likely have to write the LSAT to apply to law schools. As more schools now accept the GRE or LSAT, you may opt to write the GRE instead.
No matter which test you decide to take, be sure to develop a comprehensive study plan with a target score based on the requirements of your chosen law schools, and use the resources available to you to get to this score!
You can choose to self-study or entrust the help of experts. For instance, Juris' team of 99th percentile LSAT and GRE tutors can give you helpful insight to get your desired score with as little hassle as possible.
A good LSAT score is not all it takes to get into law school! Law schools look at candidates and want to know if they will be successful students and lawyers. To prove you will thrive in the legal field, you’ll have to wow the admissions committee on every part of your law school application.
In other words, write an impressive personal statement, create a resume that displays all your achievements and experience, and have glowing letters of recommendation.
Once you’ve gotten into law school, you’ll need to do well to open up as many doors as possible post-graduation. Remain focused, develop good study habits, and make strong connections with your peers, professors, and summer employers.
A JD doesn’t make you a lawyer; passing the bar does. So, you must give yourself enough time to fully prepare for and ace the bar exam.
This last step is optional but can also open up more doors for you, make you more qualified in your field, and thus more desirable to employers. An LLM in personal injury will provide you with specialized training to help you become the best personal injury lawyer you can be!
Personal injury lawyers are legal professionals who represent individuals who have suffered physical or psychological harm due to the negligence or wrongdoing of another person, company, or entity. Their primary objective is to help clients obtain fair compensation for their injuries and losses.
These lawyers handle personal injury claims, determine who is at fault, gather as much evidence as possible to prove accidents were caused by negligence, and negotiate with insurance companies to get their clients the most compensation for their injuries.
These injuries do not have to be physical; they can also be emotional! Personal injury lawyers typically handle defamation cases, where untrue statements about someone cause emotional distress.
While they often show up during strife and chaos, personal injury lawyers are the beacons of light that ease this chaos and offer solutions to resolve it!
Aspiring lawyers considering the personal injury specialty should know this job does not entail the luxury or glory other areas do. As a personal injury lawyer, you deal with people who are frustrated and often highly hurt. It’s a hard job that generally doesn’t pay enough to compensate for its challenges.
Personal injury lawyers typically make around $89,802-$122,010 a year, with the average salary being $105,123. Many don’t charge an hourly rate but take a certain percentage of the compensation their clients receive.
So, if you’re part of a big case such as the hot coffee case, you can expect to make a pretty penny as a personal injury lawyer! However, it’s not every day that personal injury lawyers go up against such large corporations, meaning their cut isn’t usually this big.
While this type of law might not bring in as much money as others, the work is very fulfilling! In addition to healing from their injuries, these clients have the added stress of paying for these injuries emotionally, physically, and financially.
Personal injury lawyers help ease some of this stress!
While we’ve given you a basic rundown on what it takes to become a personal injury lawyer and what a career in this specialty looks like, you might have some remaining questions. The following frequently asked questions can provide you with your answers!
To become a personal injury lawyer in California, obtain a bachelor's degree, earn a JD degree from an accredited law school, pass the California Bar Exam, and gain experience in the field.
Becoming a personal injury lawyer will take at least seven years if you attend your undergrad and law school full-time and don’t take a gap year. If you pursue an LLM, you can add another year or two to this timeline.
Yes, personal injury lawyers can make up to an average of $122,010 annually. Top performers in the field can indeed make substantial amounts of money, particularly those who handle complex, high-value cases in major metropolitan areas.
Personal injury lawyers can handle any case that involves one party being harmed due to the negligence of another party. As seen in the coffee case, this injury can be caused by virtually anything, meaning this job can be quite interesting!
In general, though, personal injury lawyers handle cases involving:
Whether you want to work on cases to take down big corporations and fight for the underdog, or you simply want to help people recover from their injuries, the extensive journey to becoming a personal injury lawyer might be worth it!
Reviewed by:
Former Head of Northeastern University's Pre-Law Office, Northeastern University
