The information you should know on the Lawyer's Day

These professionals represent 4.3% of people employed in Mexico. Here we give you more about them.

In Mexico there are about 342,809 lawyers employed, representing 4.3% of the 7.9 million people employed in the country, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi).

The term lawyer comes from the Latin advocatus , called in aid and refers to those professionals who are dedicated to defend, in writing or speech, the interests or causes of the litigants, being able to be their representative to individuals, companies or governments in legal matters in the competent courts.

The country celebrates 56 years of the celebration of the Lawyer's Day; in 1960 it was decided that the celebration was July 12, since that day, but from 1553, the first law class was taught at the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico by Fray Bartolomé Frías y Albornoz, according to the history of the Law School of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

In terms of gender, of every 100 lawyers in Mexico, 62 are men and 38 are women, and their average age is 39.5 years; in men it is 40.9 and in women of 37.1 years. Its age structure shows that 80 out of every 100 professionals employed in the area are under 50 years old, according to the Statistics report on the Inegi Lawyer Day.

The three entities that have the highest percentage of lawyers in the country are Mexico City with 23.4%, the State of Mexico with 13.7% and Jalisco with 9.8%, which together concentrate 46.9% of employed professionals. The entities with the least professionals are Durango, Baja California Sur and Campeche.

In their level of education, 90.3% of Mexican lawyers have a bachelor's degree, 9.2% with a master's degree and 0.5% with a doctorate.

According to the National Occupation and Employment Survey (ENOE), 98% of lawyers are employed in the tertiary or service sector. Of every 100, 63 work in professional, financial and corporate services, 34 work in government administrative activities and international and extraterritorial organizations; the remaining three in transport, communications, mail and storage, or social services.

The average number of hours worked per week for lawyers is 39.5 hours, but there are gender differences: men work 40.9 hours and women 37.1 hours.

Their average income per hour worked is approximately 75 pesos. The amount is greater if you work as an employer (96.4 pesos); On the contrary, if you work on your own or as a subordinate worker, the average decreases to 73.6 or 71.3 pesos, respectively.

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Of the last 10 presidents who have ruled Mexico, seven studied the law career: Enrique Peña Nieto (current president), Felipe Calderón Hinojosa (2006-2012), Miguel de la Madrid (1982-1988), José López Portillo (1976- 1982), Luis Echeverría Álvarez (1970-1976), Gustavo Díaz Ordaz (1964-1970) and Adolfo López Mateos (1958-1964).

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Are you a trained lawyer?

In Mexico, 90% of law graduates do not know the labor demand, says the Jurist College; The fields with more vacancies in the legal profession in Mexico are the corporate and fiscal sector.

Ivonne Vargas Hernández

The saying goes that it always helps to have a lawyer at home, but what kind? 90% of graduates of the law degree lack skills to work in the areas with the highest hiring in the country, says the Law School.

The most mobile are corporate lawyers, who dominate work scenarios such as layoffs, employee lawsuits, mergers, business transactions and fraud. Tax specialists also have a large field of work, says the lawyer from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) , Gerardo Hernández.

In Mexico there is no framework that regulates the legal profession and there are no key subjects to highlight in the labor framework, says Jorge Manrique, Rector of the Jurist College.

The Labor Observatory places Law as one of the degrees with the highest number of professionals employed, although that does not mean that they are hired in activities related to their studies, in law they only exercise 68.4%.

Manrique mentions that current graduates need, before concluding their degree , to have more knowledge about clients, disciplinary procedures and sanctions, availability of legal services and organizational governance. These are the weakest subjects in the universities and institutions that teach this degree in Mexico.

"Detecting market trends is facilitated when the school establishes exchange relations with associations and organizations to share curricula, research and academic plans. It is also necessary to emphasize strategic alliances with companies and key actors in the delivery of justice" , says the rector of the Jurist College.

A latent problem, according to the Rector of the Jurist College is the proliferation of law schools. In the last 20 years "study programs have been generated below the optimum level", therefore there are few opportunities to develop the practical skills that the student needs.

Another lack to work on is practice. Sometimes teachers have no experience, they are good at teaching, but maybe they have never litigated or done it rarely. "How can the student be advised if the teacher does not know what is happening on a day-to-day basis, the problems they should understand?" Asks the vocational counselor Leticia Pérez.

The psychologist also graduated from the UNAM expresses that in Mexican culture the tradition in the choice of studies still "weighs", a fact that leads the student to make erroneous decisions . As everyone knows what a lawyer is doing and it is a 'recognized' career, among some families there is a belief that they have to study this profession: "study something that pays," parents say to their children.

That can generate uncertainty in the young person, but being a decision "for a lifetime", it is the responsibility of that person to inform themselves of the different options of subjects, programs, schools, and take into account what their field of work will be when they graduate, Pérez points out.

Even when it comes to a 'saturated' career, Jorge Manrique emphasizes that there are various alternatives for lawyers in corporate and different entities. The challenge is the high inability for graduates to access these positions due to "poor academic training," says the Rector.

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the 10 things you should know about this profession

For 57 years, July 12 is the date on which Mexico celebrates the professionals responsible for the defense of third parties.

Although the legal profession is one of the least respected professions in the country, because it is related to corruption, bribery and dishonesty, it is one of the most renowned sectors worldwide, says Víctor Manuel Alonso, specialist of the Faculty of Law of the University La Salle, on the occasion of the celebration of the day of the lawyer.

“In general, these professionals are not well regarded, much less those associated with the defense of corrupt politicians. Although the image changes if it is about those who represent a civil organization or protect human rights, ”explains the academic also.

Although stigmas do not detract from the work of lawyers, Alonso recommends regulating the academic entities that offer a law degree because the study periods have been reduced from four years to two years on average. "Now there are schools that form lawyers with very small school periods, that's a big problem."

He comments that the existence of an organ that offers renewable licenses and reviews the quality of the study programs would help to improve the professional's image.

Read more: The information you should know on the day of the lawyer

Because 57 years ago the celebration of Attorney's Day in Mexico began, these are the 10 things you should know about the profession:

1. There are 706,050 lawyers in the country, of which 60.3% are men and 39.7% are women.

2. Eight out of 10 professionals have full-time employment.

3. Just over half of the lawyers do some activity according to their studies, while four out of 10 never practiced law.

4. 36.2% of graduates of the law degree practice in financial and corporate services companies.

5. On average, Mexican lawyers earn 8,633 pesos per month.

6. Seven out of 10 professionals are salaried, 23% are self-employed and 8% are employers.

7. 35.5% of lawyers practice in Mexico City, Hidalgo, State of Mexico, Morelos, Puebla and Tlaxcala.

8. Seven out of 10 graduates of the law degree have been in the same company for more than three years.

9. 60.1% work in private industry, while 39.9% do so in the public sector.

10. 33.4% of lawyers in Mexico are between 25 and 34 years old, 33% between 35 and 44 years old and 30.3% over 45 years old.

* Data obtained from the Labor Observatory as of the first quarter of 2017.

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