A day in the life of a lawyer By: Savannah Lantz Ideas I had on life as a lawyer- I think being a lawyer would

be similar to what you see on TV, where they go to trial and they argue about what they think is right but I wasnt exactly sure so I contacted some people I know, that are lawyers and I interviewed 2 of them. Business lawyer Steve Prunty: When does your work day start and end? A normal day for me would start at 7:30 I get to my office around 10:15 and is stay till 6:30 What type of lawyer are you? I do commercial real-estate and real-estate development. What are the activities that you do during a work day? When I wake you I go through my voice mail to see what I missed the day before. I normally spend the first 2 hours of the day going through information around 1:00pm, I meet with clients, I finished drafting a contract for the sale of a property I answer questions for a client who wanted to sell some land. I finished drafting a complaint so a law suit could be filed to clear up the title property. I read sworn statements for a case (deposition transcripts). I spent an hour working on conventions and restriction on a sub division and I fielding calls from clients. I actually just filed documents for 30 million dollar real-estate transaction. Do you ever go to court?

I have to go to court sometimes because we litigating lawyers and business lawyers. They do similar things but there are big differences so you have to have both to take it work. Expert witnesses work on real-estate matters. i help the court understand what the disputes are about and what are the right answers. Most of what i do is in my office. How are lawyers paid? Equity partner in a firm associate (salaried employee of the firm), you become a non-equity partner and you have ability to make decisions but you are not an owner. An equity partner makes decisions about the firm and you own a share of that firm and you share the revenue but you also share the losses. First year general partitions normally get paid $125 to $350 per hour. $350k earned revenues expected for the firm. 3 dollars = 1 to overhead, 1 to firm as part of profit, and 1 to you but distribution model changes based on status in the firm What do you like about your job? I really enjoy helping people, I like seeing their smiles after everythings all done. What do you dislike about being a lawyer? The Worst part is tracking time, sending bills, and recovering fees. You enjoy the practice of law but not the business of law. You find that the person that you do the least for, often appreciate the most and the pay their billsthe person that you do the most for, never want to pay and they dont appreciate it. I also dont like the constant fear of a mistake. What advice would you give for someone who would want to be a lawyer?

The more fun something is to do, the more people want to do it. The more fun it is, the less it pays, but you get more fulfilment. We are rarely good at what we enjoy.

Trial lawyer Scott Templeton: When does you work day start and end?
Normal day is 8 to 5 but here really isnt a normal day. Travel sometimes makes for longer days and depends on what I have going on. If something big is going on, I might work 12 to 15 hours a day

What type of lawyer are you?

I am classified as a trial lawyer but most trial lawyers only spend about 5% of their time in the court room. I work on civil cases and am a personal injury lawyer were someone gets hurt. Car accident cases and the focus of what I do is investigating who is responsible for the accident.

What are the activities that you do during a work day? Interview persons as an investigation, meeting with clients and preparing them for a deposition, 95% of my time I spend preparing (discovery process) myself for when I am in the court room. Part of that time is taking depositions to help prepare myself for when I am in a court room. Depositions are a discovery strategy. TV doesnt show all the preparation and knowing what the people are going to say. Do you ever go to court? yes, there are different kinds of court. Process of filing of lawsuit involves preparing a petition that sets for the facts about your case. The defendant files a response to that petition. I spend a lot of time I am asking a court to dismiss petitions, clarify them or make some decision. This is

designed to put a case in front of a judge or jury. Culmination is jury trial. I dont do divorce or domestic violence and they go to court more than I do but they dont have as much preparation Criminal cases will be in front of a jury or judge more frequently. How are lawyers paid? How I get paid depends on the type of case Im working on. If Im representing the defendant, hired by insurance company and Im paid $150 per hour to prepare this case for them. I keep record of my time and the insurance company pays the bill each month. If rep plaintiff and I take case on contingent fee basis, if we have a recovery then I get 1/3 of the total recovery. If I lose the case, I get 1/3 of nothing. Firm is a professional corporation. Two are shareholders (partners). How many hours do I work, how many days which is driven by how much business I had at the time. I might have one big case or a bunch of little ones. A big case can pay the bills for a long time. Formula = set amount we guarantee each other and if we bring in more money than that then we get a higher percentage take. Its difficult when someone generates more money but others are working just as hard. What do you like about your job? Depends on which side Im on. Plaintiff = cannot pay medical bills, seriously hurt and cannot function while they recover. Im able to talk them through the process at the beginning and help them make up for tragic circumstances. Defendant = dont understand the process and assume they will lose everything. I help them understand that things are going to be ok.

What do you dislike about being a lawyer? Some cases are incredibly emotional, also sometimes you pour your heart and soul into a case and they dont appreciate anything you do. And I really hate to lose a case. That really stinks. What advice would you give for someone who would want to be a lawyer? Its an extremely exciting profession but one that you are going to have to not be incredibly emotional. Keep your level head and take the emotion out of what you are working on. So after I finished with the interviews I learned that there are many different types of lawyers for many different kinds of case scenarios. I learned that some lawyers only work in offices, others work mostly in the court room, I learned that lawyers make different amounts of money some get paid by the case some get paid by the hour. All in all am glad I called them because I learned a lot more than I ever would have on the internet, it was a great experience.