Mark Geragos might be the most "famous" of the celebrity attorneys, at least if measured by how often we see him in the news. Geragos was hired then fired by Michael Jackson to defend him against molestation charges, but Geragos still testified on behalf of Jackson at trial.
Discuss something you experienced in your previous roles or background that inspired you to become a lawyer. For instance, maybe a family member is an attorney and shows passion, excitement and enjoyment for their job and that interests you, or maybe you're interested in family law because you've personally witnessed the impacts of a divorce.
Again, movies and TV don't reflect reality. Sure, there are plenty of very well-off (and even rich) lawyers, but that's really just the top layer of the profession. Most lawyers earn more of a solid middle-class income.
Lawyering in real life seldom resembles what is depicted in movies and TV shows. Most lawyers are not in court delivering soaring speeches in front of juries every week. 3. Being a lawyer means being a writer. Granted, lawyers in some fields write more than others.
7 Lawyers Who Became FamousJerry Springer.Gerard Butler.Rebel Wilson.John Cleese.Steve Young.Hill Harper.Gemma Chan.
Yet, there is a new kind of celebrity lawyer; one who becomes famous simply for being a lawyer. Many of these lawyers, of course, are tied to highly publicized cases or celebrity clients. People remember the faces and names of the attorneys who have represented celebrity clients or clients in high-profile cases.
Check out these smartie-pants stars who have law degrees.Gerard Butler. Gerard Butler attends 2019 Hollywood For Science Gala | Kevin Winter/Getty Images. ... John Cleese. Actor John Cleese in 2016 | Clemens Bilan/Getty Images. ... Ben Stein. ... Jeff Cohen. ... Geraldo Rivera. ... Josh Saviano. ... Andrea Bocelli. ... Jerry Springer.More items...â˘
You can definitely do both! I have been a practicing lawyer for about 8 years and I regularly participate in musical theater productions at my local community theater. My exposure to theater has definitely helped me in my legal career. If you're comfortable on a stage, you can be comfortable in a court room!
While Kim Kardashian has yet to officially become a lawyer, the reality star passed the baby bar exam in December of 2021.
Highest paid lawyers: salary by practice areaTax attorney (tax law): $122,000.Corporate lawyer: $115,000.Employment lawyer: $87,000.Real Estate attorney: $86,000.Divorce attorney: $84,000.Immigration attorney: $84,000.Estate attorney: $83,000.Public Defender: $63,000.More items...â˘
Gerard Butler Not only was he head boy at high school, but he also managed to get a law degree at the University of Glasgow. As a matter of fact, his pursuit of an acting career only came as a result of being fired from being a trainee at an Edinburgh firm, as he revealed while on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Rebel Wilson, Gerard Butler and more stars tried their hand at studying and practicing law before they made it big in Hollywood. Before solidifying his place among some of the hottest names in the movie industry, Butler held a high position in the law society at his Scottish university.
Top 10 Best Celebrity Lawyers#1: Johnnie Cochran. You know the words: âif it doesn't fit, you must acquit.â In the mid-90s, Johnnie Cochran famously and successful defended O.J.#2: Alan Dershowitz. ... #3: Clarence Darrow. ... #4: F. Lee Bailey. ... #5: Gloria Allred. ... #6: Marcia Clark. ... #7: Vincent Bugliosi. ... #8: Jim Garrison. ... More items...
How much does an Entertainment Lawyer in Los Angeles, CA make? The average Entertainment Lawyer in Los Angeles, CA makes $33,535, 7% above the national average Entertainment Lawyer salary of $31,326.
Attorney Irwin Rappaport, who represents producers, says, âIt's always best to have a lawyer involved for the sake of protecting the actor's interests, giving a perspective that the manager and/or agent might not have, and establishing a relationship of trust between lawyer and client that hopefully will only grow as ...
They're the lawyers to the stars â and there are many. The highest-profile legal eagles, like Mark Geragos and the late Johnnie Cochran, have become TV celebrities unto themselves. But some of the busiest celeb lawyers in town these days are non-household names.
24. Dick Button . After winning gold medals at the â48 and â52 Winter Olympics, the American figure skater decided to see how he would fare at Harvard Law School. Turns out he was pretty good at that, too: he graduated in 1955 and even skated with the Ice Capades when he was on break from school.
8. Jerry Springer. After getting his law degree from Northwestern in 1968, Springer got a job as a campaign aide to Robert Kennedy. After Kennedy was assassinated, Springer signed with a law firm in Cincinnati.
One of the funniest men in the history of comedy has a law degree from no less than Cambridge. But he didnât leave the jury rolling in the aisles: Cleese never actually practiced. After meeting writing partner Graham Chapman at school, Cleese went on to co-found a little comedy troupe called Monty Python. 5.
22. Howard Cosell. Believing that having a lawyer for a son would make his parents proud, Cosell enrolled in the NYU School of Law and started practicing in Manhattan after WWII. His clients included Willie Mays and the New York Little League. He organized a radio show to help promote the latter and ended up being a natural at interviewing. He quit his law practice in 1956 to do sports reporting for ABC.
Gerard Butler. Butler worked as a trainee lawyer for a couple of years at a Edinburgh law firm and was just a week away from qualifying when he got fired. Though he didnât quite make the grade, Butler has admitted that the degree has come in handy during his own brushes with the law. 8. Jerry Springer.
6. Ben Stein. It will surprise no one that brainiac Ben Stein started his professional life as a lawyer. He was the valedictorian of his Yale Law School class in 1970, but Stein makes it clear that his fellow classmates elected him as valedictorian due to his popularity, not his grades. 7.
30. Will Shortz. The puzzlemaster could have been a lawyer - he got his JD from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1977, but passed up the bar to get the worldâs only degree in enigmatology instead. Despite eschewing the bar, Shortz believes his schooling was helpful. âLaw is great training for the mind for almost any career. It was good for me because the thinking skills you get from law school are important in puzzle-solving and puzzle-making.â#N#* * *#N#Lots of U.S. Presidents were lawyers, too. How about you guys? Anyone with a law degree thriving in another field?
John Cleese. Studied: Law at Downing College, University of Cambridge. Comedian John Cleese is probably best known as one of the six members of the comedy group Monty Python, though his role as co-writer and star of the sitcom Fawlty Towers probably comes a close second.
Studied: Law at the University of Havana#N#Like Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro became involved in politics while studying Law â but it took him in a somewhat different direction. At university, Castro became involved in violent activism, received death threats, and took to carrying a gun. He was particularly critical of the corruption and violence associated with RamĂłn Grau, then President of Cuba. Over time his politics moved from opposing US imperialism and corruption, towards condemnation of social and economic inequality. By 1949, he had discovered Marxism, and begun to believe that Cubaâs problems could only be solved through revolution. By 1952, he had moved away from his struggling career in Law and sought election to congress, but then a military dictator, Batista, seized power, and Castro lost faith in democracy altogether.
Studied: Arts at the University of Fort Hare, then University of South Africa, then Law at the University of Witwatersrand#N#At the age of 16, Nelson Mandela intended to become a privy councillor for the Thembu royal house. His first attempt to gain a degree, at the University of Fort Hare, ended in failure when he was suspended for organising a boycott against the quality of food. But when a friend found him a job as an articled clerk in a law firm, Mandela became connected to a hive of political activity by attending Communist talks and parties that he was invited to by his colleagues. After getting his BA, Mandela realised that becoming a privy councillor was not right for him, and then instead he wanted to become involved in politics via Law.
Law and politics have long gone hand in hand. Tony Blair was British prime minister from 1997 to 2007. Law was his second choice of career; he initially tried to become a rock music promoter, and after abandoning this to go to university, joined a band there.
Studied: Law at University College, London. Gandhiâs legacy still looms large, in India and beyond. We donât usually think of Gandhi as a member of a privileged elite, but he came from a prominent family and his father was chief minister of a large city.
Barack Obama, not only studied Law as a postgraduate but went on to teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years until 2004, while also working as a civil rights attorney.
Cleese first became involved in comedy at university, when he joined Cambridgeâs famous Footlights amateur dramatic club (other well-known Footlights alumni include Douglas Adams, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry, and Sue Perkins). Through Footlights, he met fellow Python Graham Chapman, and the rest is history. Cleese in 2008.
Rebel Wilson, Gerard Butler and more stars tried their hand at studying and practicing law before they made it big in Hollywood. Before solidifying his place among some of the hottest names in the movie industry, Butler held a high position in the law society at his Scottish university. After graduating from the University ...
Gerard Butler. Before earning the role of King Leonidas of Sparta, Butler was the president of the law society at the University of Glasgow. After graduating with honors in 1992, the Scotsman secured a spot at a top law firm in Edinburgh until he finally decided to chase his Hollywood dreams. Credit: Shutterstock.
Andrea Bocelli. While he was studying at the University of Pisa, Bocelliâs parents wanted him to pursue the field of law. Bocelli performed in local piano bars to earn a little extra cash before graduating and becoming a court-appointed lawyer.
Rashida Jones had lofty ambitions of becoming a lawyer while she was a student at Harvard University, but admitted to The Independent several years later that she lost faith in the law during the infamous O.J. Simpson murder trial in the 1990s.
Credit: Mike Coppola/FilmMagic. The British comedian and star of the Monty Python troupe attended law school at Downing College, Cambridge University where, as fate would have it, he met his comedy writing partner Graham Chapman, according to PBS.
Steve Young. celeb-law-degrees-1. The Pro Football Hall of Famer earned his law degree at Brigham Young University, where he simultaneously played as the school's quarterback and broke 13 national college records, according to the school's athletic site.
Prior to his legendary 27-season run as the host of The Jerry Springer Show, Springer earned a law degree from Northwestern University in 1968.
Obama started his law school journey in 1988 and became the first black Harvard Law Review president in the school's 104-year history.
Andrea Bocelli. The world-famous singer loved music from a very early age but his parents had other plans for their son. To please his mom and dad, Bocelli studied law at the University of Pisa and became a court-appointed lawyer after graduating from law school, according to Daily Mail.
Fans might be surprised to know that Wilson saw herself as either a lawyer or politician before she landed roles in hit movies like the Pitch Perfect franchise and Isn't It Romantic. The Australian actress graduated from the University of New South Wales in 2009 with a B.A. in theatre and performance studies and a Bachelor of Laws. By then, her mind was set on pursuing law, but after suffering from a bout of malaria on a trip to Africa, she hallucinated that she won an Oscar and knew from then on that acting was it for her, according to USA Today.
Celebrity clients: Michael Jackson , Winona Ryder, Chris Brown and Scott Peterson. Mark Geragos might be the most "famous" of the celebrity attorneys, at least if measured by how often we see him in the news.
Simpson, Mike Tyson, socialite Claus van Bulow and Patricia Hearst. Alan Dershowitz -- or "Dersh" as some of his students call him -- is a longtime Harvard professor and is best known to those under 35 for his participation in the O.J. Simpson trial.
David Boies is a legendary litigator whose career took off when he defended IBM against antitrust allegations He also represented Al Gore in Bush v. Gore and has teamed up with Ted Olson, his opponent in that case, to fight California's Proposition 8.
Leslie Abramson is known for her unruly hair and her outspoken client advocacy. She is most famous for representing Eric and Lyle Mendendez, who shot their parents in their Beverly Hills home in 1989.
Howard K. Stern made a career and a life out of representing Anna Nicole Smith. Stern took on Smith's suit against her deceased multi-millionaire husband's estate, though he appeared to be more companion than attorney when the case made it to the Supreme Court.
Gloria Allred. Celebrity clients: The family of Nicole Brown Simpson, Paula Jones, Amber Frey (girlfriend of Scott Peterson) Gloria Allred has not met a media frenzy she doesn't like - even her website boasts that she is "the most famous woman attorney practicing law in the nation today.".
In a sense, F. Lee Bailey could rightly be seen as the first celebrity attorney. His first high-profile case involved a defense of famed serial killer, Albert Salvo, also known as the Boston Strangler. After that, Bailey served as defense for Dr. Sam Sheppard in his retrial for the charges of murdering his wife.
2. Mark Geragos. With a firmly-entrenched reputation as a âcelebrity attorney,â Mark Geragos has defended a whoâs who of famous individuals.
Since the case, she has defended clients such as Tupac Shakur, Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and Nicole Richie.
10. Gerald Shargel. While he might not have the prestige of the above-reviewed lawyers, Gerald Shargel has defended many public figures. Of course, most of these public figures belonged to the mob. Not only has Shargel defend the Gambino crime family, but John J. Gotti, and Sammy Gravano as well.
However, no criminal attorney from the case became more popular than Johnnie Cochran. Well-remembered for uttering the phrase, âIf it doesnât fit, you must acquit,â Cochran (along with his fellow criminal attorneys) was successful in getting Simpson off scot-free, despite the fact that many believed Simpson to be guilty.
Johnnie Cochran. The O.J. Simpson murder trial might be the most famous court case in the history of the world. The case was an absolute media sensation; One which made big celebrities out of Simpsonâs entire legal team. However, no criminal attorney from the case became more popular than Johnnie Cochran.
Jose Baez is a Florida-based attorney who has served as the defense in a number of high-profile court cases. Not only was he the defense attorney for Casey Anthony, but for James Woo and Aaron Hernandez as well.
Letâs be honest â the world of people who are both famous and a lawyer basically consists of Amal Clooney, Judge Judy, and the Bachelorette, Andi Dorfman. So the choice between being famous and a lawyer is pretty much a forced choice. So, which would you pick?
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Burnout, stress, and depression are incredibly common among lawyers. Make sure you take advantage of mental health days, vacation days, and sick days, and if you're truly struggling (or your colleagues are), consult a mental health practitioner. 15. You probably won't be rich.
Being a lawyer means being a writer. Just when you thought those law school papers were done, that's not quite the case. "I'm a litigator, which can be a bit like writing a term paper every night for the rest of your life," Devereux says.
You probably won't spend much time in court. All the movies that show lawyers only working when they're in court are not at all accurate. " In fact, you might never see a courtroom," Devereux says. You'll probably be spending a lot of time alone, in an office, researching cases, and processing paperwork.
You may not pass the bar on the first try. The bar exam wasn't exactly designed with everyone in mind. " Hereâs the thing. The bar examâlike most academic exams in our countryâwas first developed by white, affluent, powerful men (a.k.a. the patriarchy) who very much wanted to retain their power," Rodgers says.
And it may allow you to move around or work remotely. "Because trademarks and copyrights are regulated by a federal agency, you can work with trademark and copyright clients from any state. This gives you lots of flexibility if you donât want to be stuck in the state in which you are barred," says Rodgers. 6.
It's not easy to make partner (or become a part-owner of a firm instead of an employee), even if you're a top performer. "In my experience, most people I worked with did not make partner," Jamie says. Often, it's worth it to leave and go to another firm to get to that level, she admits.
" Law school doesn't really teach you how to practice law," Devereux says. It turns out, you have a lot left to learn. "In the beginning, it may seem like nearly every time you are assigned a task, it's something that you've never done before," she adds. But don't worry, eventually, with more practice (pun intended) you'll get the hang of the skill set and type of law you're practicing. "The anxiety should subside after a couple of years when you've developed a decent base of skills," Devereux says.
You can answer this question by following the steps below to highlight your strengths and make a great impression on the interviewer: 1. Focus on your strengths and skills. Give examples of your strongest skills that make you successful as a lawyer. For instance, your ability to communicate ...
For instance, your ability to communicate persuasively, your attention to detail and your compassion towards your clients are strengths that you can have as a lawyer that make you successful at doing your job. Your pride in your skills and expertise can show the interviewer how motivated you are to succeed in the career.
The interviewer will likely want to see that your core values and philosophy about practicing law connects with the job responsibilities and their firm's mission and values. Describe the character traits you feel you have developed as a lawyer and how these traits helped shape the values you have today. Then, relate these values to what you know about the company and the clients it serves.
Interviewing for a position as a lawyer means you'll likely encounter several different types of questions that will help the interviewer get to know you, assess your skills and compare your qualifications with what they're looking for.