WHAT IS BEING A LAWYER ACTUALLY LIKE?
WHAT IS IT REALLY LIKE TO BE A LAWYER?
Many law students spend years learning legal theory, studying cases, and writing assignments, only to discover that working as a lawyer feels very different from studying law at university.
While law school teaches you how the law works, legal practice is far more practical, fast-paced, and people-focused. Lawyers spend much of their day communicating with clients, colleagues, courts, and other professionals, drafting documents, solving problems, managing deadlines, working with legal technology, and making professional decisions that have real-world consequences.
If you’re wondering what being a lawyer is actually like, here are seven things that often surprise new graduates.
At a glance:
The biggest differences between law school and legal practice include:
- Lawyers spend more time communicating than researching
- Clients care about solutions, not legal theory
- Drafting becomes part of everyday work
- Deadlines carry real consequences
- Many lawyers track billable hours throughout the day
- Commercial awareness matters alongside legal knowledge
- Professional judgment becomes just as important as technical knowledge
DAY IN THE LIFE OF A JUNIOR LAWYER
Wondering what being a lawyer actually looks like day to day? While every role is different, here is an example of what a fairly typical Tuesday might look like for a first-year lawyer working in commercial law at a mid-sized firm.
| TIME | TASK | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
| 8:30 AM | Emails and Priorities |
You arrive at work and check your emails before planning your day. A client has questions about changes to a contract. A partner wants an update on a matter you worked on yesterday. A colleague needs help locating documents for an urgent deadline. Before you've even finished your coffee, you're already juggling competing priorities. |
| 9:30 AM | Updating a Contract |
You're asked to review a services agreement and update several clauses based on client feedback. You spend part of the morning reading carefully, making amendments, checking definitions and making sure the document still works as a whole |
| 11:00 AM | Client Meeting | You join a senior lawyer for a meeting with a client to discuss a commercial agreement. Your role is mainly to listen, take notes and observe how the senior lawyer manages the conversation. After the meeting, the senior lawyer asks you to update the draft agreement to reflect the client's feedback. |
| 11:30 AM | Drafting and Follow-up | After the client meeting, you prepare a file note, update the draft agreement to reflect what was discussed, check previous correspondence and send the revised draft to the senior lawyer for review. They ask you to make a few further revisions before it's ready to send back to the client. |
| 12:15 PM | Team Meeting |
The commercial team meets briefly to discuss active matters, upcoming deadlines and anything urgent. You learn two matters expected later in the week now need to be finished today, so you'll need to adjust your priorities for the afternoon. |
| 3:00 PM | Researching a Legal Question |
After working through your revised draft and other priority matters, your supervising lawyer asks you to research a question about a contract clause. You review legislation, previous agreements and prepare a short summary with your findings. |
| 4:45 AM | A Change of Plans |
Just as you're making progress on your afternoon tasks, a client needs urgent changes made before an agreement can be signed. You pause what you're working on, update the document and work with the senior lawyer to make sure everything is ready in time. |
| 5:30 PM | Back to Your Priorities |
With the urgent work complete, you return to the two matters that were moved forward earlier in the day. One is finished and sent to the supervising lawyer for review. The second is progressing well, but you'll continue working on it tomorrow after receiving further instructions. |
| 6:00 PM | Wrapping Up |
Before heading home, you review your time entries, organise your priorities for tomorrow and make sure the latest documents have been saved to the file. Your day didn't go exactly as planned, but that's often what legal practice is like. |
1. YOU SPEND MORE TIME COMMUNICATING THAN RESEARCHING
At university, much of your time is spent reading cases, researching legal principles, and writing assignments independently.
In legal practice, communication quickly becomes one of the biggest parts of your job.
A typical day may involve:
- Meeting with clients
- Explaining complex legal issues in plain English
- Responding to emails and phone calls
- Speaking with barristers, courts, and opposing counsel
- Collaborating with colleagues and supervisors
You also learn quickly that technical legal knowledge is only part of the job.
Strong lawyers are often strong communicators.
Being able to explain complicated issues clearly, particularly to clients who may be stressed, confused, or unfamiliar with legal language, is an essential professional skill.
2. CLIENTS WANT SOLUTIONS, NOT LEGAL THEORY
Law school rewards analytical thinking.
You’re taught to identify legal issues, examine precedent, and build well-reasoned arguments.
But in practice, clients usually care far less about legal theory than they do about practical outcomes.
They want answers to questions like:
- What are my options?
- What happens next?
- How much will this cost?
- What is the quickest path forward?
Lawyers are constantly balancing legal analysis with practical problem-solving.
This is where commercial awareness becomes important.
Sometimes the legally perfect answer isn’t necessarily the best business decision.
Lawyers need to understand the broader context surrounding a client’s goals and help them make practical decisions, not simply explain what the law says.
3. DRAFTING BECOMES EVERYDAY WORK
At university, legal writing often means essays, exams, and academic problem questions.
In practice, writing looks completely different.
Lawyers spend a significant amount of time drafting documents that need to be clear, concise, accurate, and legally effective.
This might include:
- Contracts
- Letters of advice
- Court documents
- Commercial agreements
- Settlement offers
- Client correspondence
You may also find yourself negotiating terms while drafting.
A contract, for example, is rarely written once and accepted immediately.
Lawyers regularly work through revisions, negotiate wording, and help parties reach agreement.
The focus shifts from writing about the law to writing documents that actively shape legal outcomes.
4. DEADLINES MOVE FASTER THAN UNIVERSITY EVER PREPARED YOU FOR
University deadlines can feel stressful.
But legal practice introduces a very different kind of pressure.
As a lawyer, deadlines are often connected to real consequences.
This could include:
- Court filing deadlines
- Contract completion dates
- Settlement negotiations
- Client expectations
- Urgent requests from supervising lawyers
- Multiple matters all progressing at once
Unlike university, where your workload is largely predictable, legal work often requires rapid reprioritisation.
You may start the day with one plan and find yourself handling an urgent matter by lunchtime.
Time management becomes a core professional skill very quickly.
5. BILLABLE HOURS MAY CHANGE HOW YOU WORK
One of the biggest surprises for many new lawyers is realising they may need to track exactly how they spend their time.
Many firms operate using billable hours, which means recording time spent on client work throughout the day.
For example:
- 18 minutes reviewing a contract
- 42 minutes drafting a client letter
- 24 minutes conducting legal research
- 1 hour preparing advice for a matter
This changes how you think about work.
Organisation and efficiency become increasingly important and learning how long different tasks should take is part of becoming a lawyer. As you gain experience, you'll develop a better sense of how to work efficiently while still producing high-quality work.
6. LAWYERS USE MORE TECHNOLOGY THAN YOU EXPECT
Many students imagine legal work as reading cases, attending court, and writing advice.
But modern legal practice relies heavily on technology.
Depending on your workplace, lawyers may regularly use:
- Practice management software
- Document automation systems
- Electronic court filing systems
- Settlement platforms such as PEXA
- Legal research tools and databases
- AI-powered tools
- Collaboration and document sharing platforms
Technology has changed the way legal work is delivered.
Today’s lawyers need to be adaptable and comfortable learning new systems alongside developing their legal skills.
Understanding how to work efficiently with technology is becoming an increasingly valuable part of practice.
7. PROFESSIONAL JUDGEMENT MATTERS MORE THAN GETTING THE "RIGHT"
At university, legal questions often have a structured answer.
In practice, things are rarely so straightforward.
Lawyers regularly make decisions that involve professional judgment, ethics, and balancing competing priorities.
This may involve:
- Managing confidentiality obligations
- Handling conflicts of interest
- Deciding how to communicate sensitive information
- Managing difficult client expectations
- Resolving disputes before they escalate
- Choosing practical solutions rather than pursuing unnecessary conflict
This is where ethical responsibility becomes critical.
Sometimes your role is not simply to identify the strongest legal argument.
Sometimes it is helping clients navigate difficult situations responsibly and professionally.
A large part of legal work involves conflict resolution, negotiation, judgment, and decision-making that extends beyond purely legal knowledge.
Being a lawyer means learning how to make sound professional decisions, not simply knowing the correct legal answer.
BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN LAW SCHOOL AND LEGAL PRACTICE
For many graduates, the biggest surprise is realising that legal practice requires far more than understanding the law. It requires communication, drafting, commercial awareness, technology skills, problem-solving, and professional judgment.
This transition can feel challenging because university and legal practice develop very different skill sets.
That’s exactly why practical training matters. Because learning the law is only one part of becoming a lawyer. Learning how to apply it in real professional environments is what comes next.
FAQs
Yes. Law school focuses on legal theory and academic learning, while legal practice involves applying legal knowledge to real client situations, managing deadlines, communicating professionally, and solving practical problems.
Lawyers commonly spend their day meeting with clients, colleagues, courts, and other professionals, drafting documents, responding to emails, conducting legal research, reviewing contracts, attending court, negotiating outcomes, and managing ongoing legal matters.
The exact work depends on the area of law and workplace.
New lawyers often need a combination of technical and professional skills, including:
- Communication
- Drafting
- Time management
- Commercial awareness
- Negotiation
- Ethical judgment
- Problem-solving
- Confidence using legal technology
READY TO BUILD PRACTICAL SKILLS?
PLT bridges the gap between law school and legal practice. Build confidence through real-world legal tasks, personalised feedback and practical experience designed to prepare you for your first role as a lawyer.
