why be a lawyer google scholar

by Guadalupe Yost 8 min read

Working as a lawyer can be a highly fulfilling venture for professionals seeking an intellectually challenging and influential career. As a lawyer, you can explore various options for specialization and help make a difference in the lives of others while earning high rates of compensation.

When lawyers use Google Legal Scholar, they are leveraging one of the most powerful search engines in the world. Google's effective algorithms can deliver a high level of relevancy to your keywords. You can even filter research results by date and court.Dec 20, 2018

Full Answer

Is Google legal scholar a good way to do legal research?

A Google legal search is a great way for any lawyer to do some surface digging for their case while avoiding the costs associated with more established legal research tools. Google Legal Scholar has many upside and downsides. Let’s take a look at few of them: Upside: It’s free.

What is it like to be a lawyer?

Lawyers are autonomous and have the ability to make their own hours, set their own fees and choose their own clients and practice areas. The job has an inherent flexibility that allows lawyers to attend to personal matters or spend a day away from the office if needed.

What is the role of a lawyer in society?

They're in a unique position to affect societal change as lawmakers and thought leaders. They write the laws, rule the courts, and hold influential positions in government. They're in a position to impact top policymakers and leaders and to affect change around the globe.

What inspired you to become a lawyer?

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.

image

Is Google Scholar legal?

Attorney Rick Klau, a product manager at Google who worked on the project, points out that Google Scholar is a powerful tool with more than 80 years of federal case law and 50 years of state case law fully searchable online.

Is Google Scholar good for legal research?

If you're not yet familiar with Google Scholar, then you're missing out. It's a free, easy-to-use legal research platform that's ideal for many solo and small firm lawyers and provides you with access to a broad spectrum of both federal and state caselaw.

How do I use Google Scholar case law?

Google Scholar includes both federal and state legal opinions. From the main Google Scholar search page, select the radio button for "Case law." Type your case citation or case name in the search box and click the Search button. Keyword searches of the full text of case opinions may also be conducted from this screen.

How do you cite a court case from Google Scholar?

To use this service, find the case you want to check by searching for the name or citation in Google Scholar. From the search results page, click on the “Cited by [number of citations]” link for your case.

What is law Google Scholar?

Google Scholar offers access to laws made by the judicial branch, also known as "case law" or "common law." Common law or case law is that body of law based on written opinions by appellate courts. You Tube: Legal Research Tutorial: Finding Case Law Using Google Scholar from Law Library of Congress.

What is a legal scholar?

A judge or legal scholar; an individual who is versed or skilled in law. The term jurist is ordinarily applied to individuals who have gained respect and recognition by their writings on legal topics.

What is research in law?

Legal research has been defined as a process of finding the law that governs an activity and materials that explain or analyze that law. Legal research includes various processes ranging from gathering information to analyzing a problem's facts and communicating the investigation results.

Does Google have a legal department?

Google has one of the world's largest and most active internal legal departments with about 1,000 people, dispersed across the planet.

How do you know if a case is good law?

The only way you can know if your case is still good law is to validate your research. "Validating" your case research means to run your case through a citator service to see if there are subsequent legal authorities that invalidate your case and then reading those cases that negatively impact your case.

How do I Harvard reference Google Scholar?

Connect Google Scholar To Your Library AccessGo to Google Scholar and sign in to your Google account.Look for the menu options.Go into the settings and select "Library links"Type in Harvard and select: Harvard University - Try Harvard Library.Deselect the box for WorldCat if shown.Save your preferences.More items...

How do you research a law case?

These sources limit Web-searching to law-specific resources.AnyLaw Legal research search engine with free access to Federal and State case law.Google Scholar Search Federal and State legal opinions and journals.Legal Web Search (Justia) ( Justia > Search > Legal Web Search.More items...•

What is case law example?

Case Law Example in Civil Lawsuit Against Child Services In 1996, the Nevada Division of Child and Family Services (“DCFS”) removed a 12-year old boy from his home to protect him from the horrible physical and sexual abuse he had suffered in his home, and to prevent him from abusing other children in the home.

What is Google Legal Scholar?

Google Legal Scholar has a citation service that delivers results for cases and legal articles that cite a specific case. This comes in handy when you need to find out if other cases have addressed an issue. As with many new tools, Google Legal Scholar makes it easier for lawyers to do their job.

How to make Google Legal Scholar search more relevant?

You can make your search more relevant by limiting your results using “exclusion” and “site specific” searches. You can also search for information produced by a specific author or for cases in ...

Is Google Legal Scholar a complete library?

While Google Legal Scholar isn’t a “complete” library of case law, it does boast an impressive breadth of information. A Google law search can turn up legal cases from as far back as the 1650s, state appellate cases since 1950 and federal trial, appellate, tax, and bankruptcy cases since 1923, and more. A Google legal search is a great way ...

Does Google Legal Scholar include legal references?

Google Legal Scholar doesn’t include as many legal citations and references as a professional legal research tool. Since Google Legal Scholar is essentially a tool made to help ordinary people understand the law, don’t expect it to include the type of depth you would find in professional (subscription) legal research databases.

Is Google Legal Scholar good for finding synonyms?

Google Legal Scholar may not be good at finding synonyms but using the search operators such as “and” and “or” you can make your keyword searches more effective. You can also use quotes around phrases if you want to ensure that words are searched for together.

Why are lawyers important?

Lawyers are in a unique position to help individuals, groups, and organizations with their legal problems and to further the public good. Public interest lawyers champion legal causes for the greater good of society and help those in need of legal assistance who might not otherwise be able to afford attorneys.

What is the role of an attorney in society?

Attorneys have stood at the center of society for centuries. They're in a unique position to affect societal change as lawmakers and thought leaders. They write the laws, rule the courts, and hold influential positions in government.

Why do lawyers do pro bono work?

Lawyers in private practice often perform pro bono work to help low-income individuals and underserved portions of the population , such as the elderly, victims of domestic abuse, and children. In fact, many bar associations require that attorneys commit to a certain number of pro bono hours each year.

What is the most rewarding job?

Working as a lawyer is one of the most intellectually rewarding jobs on the planet. From helping to patent a trade secret, or devising a trial strategy, to forming a multi-million dollar merger, lawyers are problem-solvers, analysts, and innovative thinkers whose intellect is crucial to career success.

Where do lawyers work?

Work Environments and Perks. The majority of lawyers work in law firms, government, and for corporations. In an age where cubicles have become the mainstay of the modern workplace, lawyers typically work in offices with four walls.

Do lawyers make big bucks?

Keep in mind, however, that not all lawyers make big bucks. It can depend on employer size, experience level, and geographic region. Lawyers employed in large law firms, major metropolitan areas, and in-demand specialties generally earn the highest incomes.

How to answer why you want to become a lawyer?

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 ...

What are some examples of skills that make you successful as a lawyer?

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.

What do you want to know about practicing law?

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.

What does it mean to interview for a lawyer?

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.

Stand on the shoulders of giants

Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites.

How are documents ranked?

Google Scholar aims to rank documents the way researchers do, weighing the full text of each document, where it was published, who it was written by, as well as how often and how recently it has been cited in other scholarly literature.

1. Professional fulfillment

Due to the nature of their careers, lawyers have the unique opportunity to help others and make a difference in their lives. Even more, through their day-to-day role of offering legal services in a diverse array of environments, lawyers can typically challenge themselves intellectually.

2. Salary potential

Lawyers have the potential to earn high rates of compensation by offering their expertise and services. The national average salary for a lawyer is $73,998 per year, and these professionals commonly earn employer-sponsored benefits like health, dental and vision insurance, paid time off (PTO), retirement plan options and parental leave.

3. Specialization options

There are many specialization options available to lawyers. These professionals can pursue broad fields of law or concentrate their work in a niche area. For example, lawyers may work in specialty areas such as criminal or civil law, employment and labor law, family law, entertainment law or corporate law.

4. Advancement options

The legal field can offer professionals various opportunities for advancement throughout their careers. Not only are there many options for advancement within particular law firms—such as the move from associate to partner—but lawyers can pursue other types of work as they grow as professionals.

5. Job outlook

Lawyers generally enjoy positive employment prospects, as these professionals are typically in-demand and can work in a variety of environments. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the employment of lawyers may increase by 9% between 2020 and 2030, resulting in the addition of approximately 71,500 jobs in this field.

6. Work environment and accommodations

Lawyers have the option to work in many environments depending on their professional interests and needs. Lawyers can typically find roles at law firms, government agencies, companies and nonprofit organizations, but may also find unique roles at other organizations seeking legal services.

7. Prestige and influence

Working as a lawyer can offer professionals a distinct level of prestige and status in their communities. This prestige can earn lawyers professional recognition and afford them a certain amount of influence.

image