Public service, teaching and people · Ohio
Lawyer: what the job actually is
Reading, writing and arguing about rules for clients, mostly at a desk, and sometimes in a courtroom.
By Nick Gonzalez, founder, U.S. Air Force veteranChecked against official Ohio sources Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025
The work
What this job actually is
- Reading. Huge amounts of contracts, cases, emails and laws, looking for the one detail that matters.
- Writing. Letters, briefs, contracts and motions, all of which have to be precise.
- Most lawyers rarely go to trial. Many cases settle, and many lawyers never argue in court at all.
- Tracking your time, often in six-minute chunks, for clients who are paying for it.
- Carrying other people's problems: their money, their freedom, their families.
A Tuesday
What a normal day looks like
Not a good day or a bad one. The ordinary version, which is what you would actually be living.
- 8:00 a.m. Read and answer emails from clients and the other side.
- 9:30 a.m. Call with a client who is upset about a settlement offer.
- 11:00 a.m. Research a question of Ohio law for a motion.
- 1:30 p.m. Short hearing at the county courthouse. Mostly waiting.
- 3:00 p.m. Draft and redraft a contract.
- 6:30 p.m. Still at your desk because a filing is due tomorrow.
Honestly
Who loves this, and who should not do it
- You love reading closely and arguing about what words mean.
- You write well and like making an argument airtight.
- You can handle pressure and deadlines.
- You want to help people through problems they cannot solve alone.
- You think it will be like TV courtroom drama every day.
- Long hours at a desk reading would bore you.
- You do not want to take on a lot of school and possibly a lot of debt.
- Conflict with other people wears you out.
The route in
How you actually get there in Ohio
Earn a bachelor's degree
Ohio requires a college degree from an accredited school. Any major works. Ohio's rules also allow 'three-plus-three' programs that combine college and law school.Earn a law degree (J.D.)
You need a J.D. from an accredited law school. Law school usually takes three years full time. When you start, you register with the Supreme Court of Ohio as a candidate for admission.Pass the character and fitness review
Before you can take the Ohio bar exam, the Supreme Court must approve your character, fitness and moral qualifications. Honesty about your past matters.Pass the bar exam, the Ohio Law Component and the MPRE
You must pass the Ohio bar exam, the Ohio Law Component and the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE), an ethics test. The Supreme Court of Ohio plans to switch to the new NextGen bar exam starting in July 2028.Take the oath
You must be at least 21 and take the oath of office to be admitted to practice law in Ohio.
While you are still in high school
- Join your school's mock trial team. Ohio Mock Trial, run by the Ohio Center for Law-Related Education, has middle and high school competitions.
- Take classes with heavy reading and writing, and join debate or speech if your school has it.
- College Credit Plus lets Ohio students in grades 9 to 12 take college courses at no cost at public colleges, which can help you finish a degree sooner.
Where this comes from: Supreme Court of Ohio: Admission to the Practice of Law in Ohio · Supreme Court of Ohio: Rules for the Government of the Bar (Rule I, admission) · Supreme Court of Ohio: Ohio Law Component · Ohio Center for Law-Related Education: Ohio Mock Trial · Ohio Revised Code 3365.02: College Credit Plus eligibility. Rules change, so check the official page before you rely on a detail.
The money
What it pays in Ohio
Last on purpose. Pay matters, but it is a bad reason to pick a job you would dislike for thirty years.
- $131,020
- Median pay in Ohio, a year
- $62.99
- Median pay in Ohio, an hour
- 19,950
- People doing this job in Ohio
- $126,270
- Median pay in the Akron area, a year
Most people in Ohio earn between $69,790 (the lowest-paid tenth, usually new starters) and $269,530 (the highest-paid tenth) a year.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: Ohio and Akron, OH metro area. Median means half earn more and half earn less.
Try it this week
Watch real court and argue both sides
Find your county's common pleas or municipal court. Most hearings are open to the public, so call ahead and ask what is on the schedule.
Watch for an hour. Notice how much is paperwork and waiting.
At home, pick a school rule you disagree with. Write one page arguing for it and one page arguing against it.
Ask someone to read both and tell you which one convinced them more.
Questions to ask somebody who does it
- What kind of law do you practice, and what does a normal week look like?
- How often are you actually in court?
- How did you choose your law school, and was the debt worth it?
- What do you wish you had known before law school?
- What kinds of people are happiest in this job?
Can you own one?
Yes. Once you are admitted to the Ohio bar you can open your own law practice, alone or with partners. Many solo lawyers handle things like wills, family law, criminal defense or small business work. You need clients, a way to manage deadlines and money, and a few years of experience usually helps.
Thinking about it? How to start a business in Ohio and the free Business 101 course are the place to begin.
Questions
Quick answers
- How much does a lawyer make in Ohio?
- The median pay for a lawyer in Ohio is $131,020 a year ($62.99 an hour), according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for May 2025. Most people earn between $69,790 and $269,530.
- How do you become a lawyer in Ohio?
- Earn a bachelor's degree. Earn a law degree (J.D.). Pass the character and fitness review. Pass the bar exam, the Ohio Law Component and the MPRE. Take the oath.
- Can you own your own business as a lawyer in Ohio?
- Yes. Once you are admitted to the Ohio bar you can open your own law practice, alone or with partners. Many solo lawyers handle things like wills, family law, criminal defense or small business work. You need clients, a way to manage deadlines and money, and a few years of experience usually helps.
Close cousins
Jobs like this one
- AccountantMaking sure a business's numbers are true, explaining what they mean, and being the person who notices the thing that does not add up.$79,320 a year
- Police officerGoing to the calls nobody else will go to, mostly talking people down, and then writing up every bit of it so it holds up in court.$77,020 a year
- Social workerHelping people through the hardest parts of their lives, like poverty, abuse, illness and addiction, by connecting them to help and sometimes counseling them directly.$51,520 a year
- Real estate agentHelping people buy, sell or rent homes and buildings, and doing a great deal of unpaid work before any deal closes.$46,240 a year
Still deciding?
Start with you, then look at the work
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