how to become attorney editor

• Earn a Bachelor’s Degree. Before you can become a legal editor, you’ll need to earn a bachelor’s degree in a subject like English that can help you improve your writing ...
• Gain Relevant Experience. In addition to a degree, it’s usually a good idea to have some writing experience. The U.S. ...
• Continue Building Your Skills. The BLS stresses that editors need to have creativity, attention to detail, good judgment, interpersonal skills, research skills, and good writing skills.

Full Answer

What degree do I need to be a legal editor?

The qualifications to become a legal editor include a law degree from an accredited institution as well as an excellent grasp of English, proofreading, and copyediting. While at law school, seeking summer internships with legal publishers or working with professors as a research assistant is an excellent way to gain experience in the field. Unlike a practicing attorney, a legal editor does …

What is an attorney-editor?

Dec 30, 2008 · Legal Editors: Perform copyediting, content editing, and proofreading for a variety of legal publications. Education A minimum of a high school diploma or GED is required to obtain work in the legal writing and publishing field, although a bachelor’s degree in English, writing, journalism, communications, or related field is often preferred.

Do you have to be a writer or an editor?

Dec 06, 2018 · Here are a few: 1. Be precise in your language and don’t let your message get lost in your words. My first job was as a litigation associate at a venerable white-shoe law firm in New York City. Although I ultimately chose a different path, the way the attorneys practiced law there was impeccable.

Where do legal writers and editors work?

Feb 28, 2021 · An editor’s job is to make the writing the best — that includes keeping a writer’s voice intact and fulfilling a publication’s purpose. If you can’t resist the urge to make your mark on a piece, consider that you are not an editor, and work to grow in your writing career without moving into editing. Or consider ghostwriting.

What certification do you need to be an editor?

What does a legal editor do?

What is the best degree to become an editor?

Do you have to be qualified to be an editor?

Can a lawyer be editor?

Do you need a law degree to be a legal editor?

Do I need a Masters to be an editor?

Is editor a good career?

Who is a famous editor?

How do I start an editing career?

What is the salary of a news editor?

How do I become a freelance editor with no experience?

Legal Editor Careers

A legal editor, in general, handles copywriting, content editing, and proofreading for an organization's writing department. Under this role, you are accountable for ensuring that written documents comply with the organization's criteria and do not offend others.#N#To become a legal editor, you need to have a doctoral degree or master's degree.

Legal Editor Career Paths

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes.

Average Salary for a Legal Editor

Legal Editors in America make an average salary of $54,159 per year or $26 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $106,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $27,000 per year.

Top Skills For a Legal Editor

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on.

How Do Legal Editor Rate Their Jobs?

Rate how you like work as Legal Editor. It's anonymous and will only take a minute.

Where do legal writers work?

Legal writers and editors work for publishing houses, magazines, marketing agencies, law firms, corporations, and public relations departments. Many are freelancers who sell their work to publishers, law firms, and other entities.

What are the skills required to be a legal writer?

Legal Writing Skills. Legal writers must have an excellent grasp of the stylistic and mechanical aspects of writing and the fundamentals of English grammar and usage. They must be able to express ideas in a clear, organized, concise, and logical manner and meet aggressive deadlines.

What is legal writing?

Legal writers and editors produce a wide range of written materials for the legal industry. From legal newsletters, brochures, and marketing copy to feature articles, web content, legal blogs ("blawgs"), news reports, and attorney profiles, legal writing can take many forms.

What do legal writers need to know?

Legal writers must have an excellent grasp of the stylistic and mechanical aspects of writing and the fundamentals of English grammar and usage. They must be able to express ideas in a clear, organized, concise, and logical manner and meet aggressive deadlines. Legal experience or in-depth knowledge of the legal industry is generally necessary.

What are the different types of legal writing?

Legal writers and editors produce a wide range of written materials for the legal industry. From legal newsletters, brochures, and marketing copy to feature articles, web content, legal blogs ("blawgs"), news reports, and attorney profiles, legal writing can take many forms. A few of the most common types of legal writing are outlined below: 1 Feature Writers: Publish articles on legal topics in print and web-based media. 2 Web Writers and Bloggers: Research, write, and edit web content for online publications, law firm websites, and law-based Internet sites. 3 News Analysts: Reporters and correspondents report on the latest developments in the legal industry. 4 Corporate Writers: Develop, write, edit and design a broad range of business materials for the legal industry, including press releases, brochures, leaflets, web copy, newsletters, profiles, marketing copy, business letters, presentations, reports, white papers, and academic materials. 5 Legal Analysts: Summarize case law, prepare news summaries, and analyze industry events for online legal information vendors. 6 Brief Writers: Perform research and draft briefs, motions, memorandums, and other legal documents for law firm clients on a contract basis. 7 Legal Editors: Perform copyediting, content editing, and proofreading for a variety of legal publications.

2. Look at things from multiple angles

For 18 years I worked in a public defender’s office. Nothing is more critical to preparing a defense than trying to see the situation from different vantage points and anticipating what the prosecution may throw at you next. The same is true in your writing.

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This workshop will take you through all of the basics of writing a novel including how important it is to choose a great setting, how to build characters, what point of view you should choose, how to write great dialogue, and more! Register today.

Is editing a writing job?

However, editing is not writing. When you edit someone else’s work, don your editor cap, and set aside the writer cap. An editor’s job is to make the writing the best — that includes keeping a writer’s voice intact and fulfilling a publication’s purpose.

What is the job of an editor?

An editor’s job is to make the writing the best — that includes keeping a writer’s voice intact and fulfilling a publication’s purpose. If you can’t resist the urge to make your mark on a piece, consider that you are not an editor, and work to grow in your writing career without moving into editing.

Is editing a natural progression?

Yet editing is often a natural progression for writers within an organization, and it’s a way for freelancers to broaden their work prospects. In this post, I’ll share everything I know about how to become an editor, based on my experience transitioning from writer to editor, in both freelancer and staff roles.

What does editing mean in writing?

Your more writerly friends probably understand that editing also means helping a writer mold content into its best form, including its organization, formatting, word choice, sentence structure, fact-checking, and our beloved grammar, punctuation and style.

What is a developmental editor?

Developmental editor. This editor helps a writer plan and shape a piece of writing, usually a book or long-form content. You might get involved before they’ve done any writing, or you might look at a rough draft to make recommendations about overarching elements, like storyline and characters.

What is the role of a copy editor?

They’re usually the last to look at content before it’s published, performing line edits, fact-checking and proofreading, as well as writing headlines and meta data. Supervisory roles , such as slot or copy chief (both almost exclusively in traditional newsrooms) perform copy editing duties and manage other copy editors.

What is the role of an editor in chief?

They manage an organization’s operations, including budgets and staffing, as well as guiding content strategy and setting the standard for content quality.

Topic selection

Attorney-editors gather and review information from customer requests, newly published resources, legal updates, news sources and customer requests.

Research

Once the topic is confirmed, the editor will spend hours reviewing and analyzing primary and secondary sources to build their own expertise.

Drafting

During the drafting process, the editor will ensure the first draft speaks to all major practical considerations, addresses related questions, and is formatted in an easy-to-read format.

Consistent monitoring

All maintained resources are reviewed and updated regularly to reflect changes in the law or practice since the prior review.

Hear from some of our editors

I'm that reliable, invisible friend, when you're working at 5 o'clock in the morning; you don't see me but, behind the scenes there is someone that has thought about the resources, the materials and anticipated the issues in any given transaction to make your life easier.

What are the best courses to take to become a lawyer?

Some courses you can expect to take while earning your J.D. are: 1 Constitutional law 2 Courtroom procedures 3 Criminal law 4 Civil law 5 International law 6 Torts 7 Property and real estate law

What do lawyers do?

Lawyers help individuals or businesses throughout legal processes. They prepare legal documents, build cases, attend hearings and try cases. Additional duties include working with legal and criminal justice professionals, taking depositions, settling cases and sending legal correspondence. They often specialize in different types of law, such as tax or family law. Lawyers work in a wide range of fields, such as: 1 Real estate 2 Business 3 Criminal justice 4 Healthcare 5 Politics

What questions should I ask a lawyer?

Below are some questions commonly asked about becoming a lawyer: 1 How long does it take to become a lawyer? 2 Can I practice law in more than one state? 3 How much does it cost to go to law school? 4 How do I prepare for the bar exam? 5 What's the difference between a lawyer and an attorney?

What are the majors in law school?

However, some of the most common undergraduate majors include criminal justice, English, economics, philosophy and political science. Spend your undergraduate time taking classes related to the area of law you think you would like to practice.

What is the next step after a bachelor's degree?

After earning your bachelor's degree, your next step is to take the LSAT. It consists of five multiple-choice sections that cover topics such as reading comprehension, critical thinking and argumentation. It is administered at a testing location on a specific date through electronic tablets.

How many sections are there in the LSAT?

There are five 35-minute sections that you need to complete. After the exam, you will also need to complete a written portion of the exam, which you can submit online from home. Law school admissions officers will review your LSAT scores and undergraduate history to determine if you would be a good fit for the program.