In this article, you will learn how to become a lawyer in Kenya, the skills needed to be one, the education background for this career and job related information among much more.
Who is a Lawyer?
A lawyer is person who is licensed to practice law and whose main obligation is to uphold the law as well as protecting the rights of their clients.
How to Become a Lawyer
To fulfill the requirements of becoming a lawyer, you have to follow this procedure;
- Completing your Secondary school education
This is the first step of becoming a lawyer. The minimum grade required to pursue a law degree is B plain with C+ in English for private sponsored students and A- (minus).
- Enrolling for a law degree
At this step, you can enroll as a privately sponsored student or as a regular student sponsored by the government. It can be quite tough during course selection for government sponsored students because the course is quite competitive.The course takes 5 years after which you go to the next step.
- Join Kenya School of Law for a Diploma in Law
Once you complete your degree course, you are supposed to join Kenya School of law for a Diploma course failure to which you won’t be allowed to practice law.This course takes one year.
- Admission to the bar
This is the final step. After graduating from Kenya School of Law, you will be issued with a certificate of practice after which you become an advocate of the High Court.
Lawyer’s key skills
Communication skills, problem solving skills, self-confidence, interpersonal skills, time conscious, analytical skills among others.
What does a Lawyer do?
Lawyers are tasked with offering legal advice to clients as well as representing them in legal matters,
Job opportunities
Lawyers are employed by the government in different departments or state agencies, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, banking institutions, law firm and advocacy institutions among others.
Lawyer’s Salary
Lawyers are in average paid Ksh 103,000 per month for those who are government employees while company lawyers make an average of Ksh 135,000 per month.
Those in private practice can make up to Ksh10 million per month or as little as Ksh 20,000 per month depending on the cases they handle.
Universities Offering Law Courses in Kenya
The universities so far accredited to offer Law courses are;
University of Nairobi, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Mount Kenya University, Catholic University of East Africa, African Nazarene University, Kabarak University, Kisii University, Kenyatta University and Strathmore University.
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