To be a good lawyer, a person must be good at finding legal facts in books and other places. He or she must also be able to speak and write well in order to pass those facts on to others. More and more lawyers are using computers to find the facts they use in their work. Most lawyers work for themselves or in companies with other lawyers. Other people and companies hire these lawyers when they need them.
Some lawyers work for only one person or company all of the time.
A few lawyers teach other people to be lawyers. And some lawyers work for the government. Sometimes they must travel to get more facts for the cases they are working on. Lawyers often work long hours. About half of all lawyers work 50 hours a week or more.