LAWYER

Job Definition:

• Lawyers give clients legal advice on a wide variety of subjects, draw up legal documents, represent clients before administrative boards or tribunals and plead cases or conduct prosecutions in courts of justice, or instruct barristers to plead in higher courts of justice.

Job Description:

• Represent clients in criminal and civil litigation and other legal proceedings, draw up legal documents, and manage or advise clients on legal transactions. May specialize in a single area or may practice broadly in many areas of law.

Duties and Tasks:

• 1) Advise clients concerning business transactions, claim liability, advisability of prosecuting or defending lawsuits, or legal rights and obligations.
• 2) Interpret laws, rulings and regulations for individuals and businesses.
• 3) Analyze the probable outcomes of cases, using knowledge of legal precedents.
• 4) Present and summarize cases to judges and juries.
• 5) Evaluate findings and develop strategies and arguments in preparation for presentation of cases.
• 6) Gather evidence to formulate defense or to initiate legal actions, by such means as interviewing clients and witnesses to ascertain the facts of a case.
• 7) Represent clients in court or before government agencies.
• 8) Examine legal data to determine advisability of defending or prosecuting lawsuit.
• 9) Select jurors, argue motions, meet with judges and question witnesses during the course of a trial.
• 10) Present evidence to defend clients or prosecute defendants in criminal or civil litigation.
• 11) Study Constitution, statutes, decisions, regulations, and ordinances of quasi-judicial bodies to determine ramifications for cases.
• 12) Prepare and draft legal documents, such as wills, deeds, patent applications, mortgages, leases, and contracts.
• 13) Prepare legal briefs and opinions, and file appeals in state and federal courts of appeal.
• 14) Negotiate settlements of civil disputes.
• 15) Confer with colleagues with specialties in appropriate areas of legal issue to establish and verify bases for legal proceedings.
• 16) Search for and examine public and other legal records to write opinions or establish ownership.
• 17) Supervise legal assistants.
• 18) Perform administrative and management functions related to the practice of law.
• 19) Act as agent, trustee, guardian, or executor for businesses or individuals.
• 20) Probate wills and represent and advise executors and administrators of estates.
• 21) Help develop federal and state programs, draft and interpret laws and legislation, and establish enforcement procedures.
• 22) Work in environmental law, representing public interest groups, waste disposal companies, or construction firms in their dealings with state and federal agencies.

Activities:

• 1) Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
• 2) Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
• 3) Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others — Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
• 4) Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
• 5) Provide Consultation and Advice to Others — Providing guidance and expert advice to management or other groups on technical, systems-, or process-related topics.
• 6) Thinking Creatively — Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
  7) Communicating with Persons Outside Organization — Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
• 8) Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
• 9) Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards — Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
• 10) Analyzing Data or Information — Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.
• 11) Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others — Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used.
• 12) Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
• 13) Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
• 14) Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
• 15) Processing Information — Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
• 16) Developing Objectives and Strategies — Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them.
• 17) Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
• 18) Scheduling Work and Activities — Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
• 19) Judging the Qualities of Things, Services, or People — Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
• 20) Monitor Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
• 21) Selling or Influencing Others — Convincing others to buy merchandise/goods or to otherwise change their minds or actions.
• 22) Interacting With Computers — Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
• 23) Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others — Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks.

Abilities:

• 1) Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand
• 2) Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• 3) Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• 4) Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• 5) Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• 6) Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• 7) Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• 8) Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• 9) Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• 10) Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• 11) Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• 12) Fluency of Ideas — The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
• 13) Originality — The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
• 14) Flexibility of Closure — The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
• 15) Selective Attention — The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
• 16) Category Flexibility — The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
• 17) Speed of Closure — The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.

Knowledge

• 1) Law and Government — Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• 2) English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 3) Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.