Category: Amy C. Marshall

Fall is Alabama’s loveliest season.

Tree colors are vibrant and striking. The weather is perfectly temperate, and the state’s natural offerings — hiking trails, waterfalls — are ready for their closeups.

While Alabama’s nicknames include the Heart of Dixie and the Yellowhammer State, to residents and visits alike, Richard Spanton notes that it’s often simply called “Alabama the Beautiful.”

Unmissable Sights and Experiences

• Farm Hopping

Alabama is packed with family farms and fall is the best time to visit a Sweet Grown Alabama-branded farm featuring the best local produce and pumpkin picking.

The favorites include Bennett Famers in Heflin, which holds regular fall activities beyond picking a pumpkin, including visits with farm animals, a hayride, and a hay maze. At Scott’s Orchard in Hazel Green, fall is on the menu with apple cider tastings, candied apples for sale, and must-try apple slushies.

There are even human hamster slides, wagon rises and corn mazes at Penton Farms in Verbena.

• Chasing Waterfalls

Alabama is somewhat surprisingly home to numerous breathtaking waterfalls, thanks to the state’s thousands of miles of streams and rivers.

One of the most popular waterfalls to experience is Cheaha Falls in the Talladega National Forest when fall foliage is at its peak. An accessible 2-mile hike leads to the falls and while swimming in its pool isn’t recommended this time of year, there are some nice photo opportunities to take advantage of by sitting on the waterfall’s rocks and simply admire the view. Another option is Kinlock Falls, home to some of the state’s best fall colors.

• Horseback Riding at the Walls of Jericho

Technically, the Walls of Jericho is also partly in Tennessee, but Alabama claims it. Maybe because it’s a fantastic fall getaway, home to springs, bluffs, caves, waterfalls, and recreational temptations like camping, bird watching, and horseback riding. There are over 25,000 acres to explore.

• Birmingham Botanical Garden

The Birmingham Botanical Gardens is open year-round, but autumn is an incredibly gorgeous time to visit. Many of its 12,000 plants over 67.5 acres are changing colors when autumn rolls around. And one of its most popular features, the Kayser Lily Pond, couldn’t be more picturesque than it is in the fall. Bonus: Admission is free.

• Coasting

Alabama’s beaches are packed in the summer, but a little-known fact is fall is a superb time to visit the Gulf Coast. Before it gets too cool, visitors can still enjoy the white sand beaches of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, both also good spots to see dolphins play during sunset.

Sportier options include kayaking or paddling through the freshwater lakes and cypress swamps along the four trails of the coastal Alabama Back Bay Blueway.

Sports

It’s no secret Alabama loves baseball and competition at the little league level is fierce. Put everything you’ve learned from batting videos into practice at one of the many high-quality local baseball fields.

• Festivals

Big groups in Alabama don’t just congregate at college football games in the fall. Each year, there’s a long list of fall festivals throughout the state.

Among the options from September through November are the Montgomery Smooth Jazz Festival, the Homestead Hallow Arts and Crafts Fall Festival in Springville, the Aww Shucks Fall Festival (it’s all about corn!), Oktoberfest at the Birmingham Zoo and the Latin American Heritage Festival at the Birmingham Museum of Art.

As a successful attorney, Amy C. Marshall is consistently asked questions regarding the educational paths for those who are seeking careers as attorneys at law. She mentions that the path is a long one, however, it helps prospective attorneys better refine their legal skills and set up a foundation for success in their respective areas of expertise along the way.

While there are a variety of paths that attorneys can take, here Ms. Marshall includes details about the traditional educational pathway for becoming an attorney in a majority of states.

1. Bachelor’s degree

Receiving a degree from a four-year college is the first step in the process of becoming an attorney. According to Amy C. Marshall, attorney, it is possible to major in any area of interest. Prospective attorneys will often major in areas that reflect their legal interests.

For example, pursuing a degree in environmental studies for environmental law or business for business law can be helpful but it is far from a requirement. People may also choose majors that reinforce skills that will be utilized later in law school such as critical reading and thinking, writing, and research. Common majors that include these skills are political science, history, sociology, philosophy, etc.

2. LSAT/ GRE

The LSAT is necessary for acceptance into most law schools. The exam is around three and a half hours, consisting of around 100 multiple choice questions that span logical reasoning, analytical reasoning, reading comprehension, and an unscored writing portion. The LSAT is a difficult exam, which explains why it is so dreaded by prospective attorneys, but it needs to be tough to properly assess one’s ability to succeed in law school.

The exam is scored on a scale of 120 to 180 with the average score sitting around 150. Top programs will prefer scores in the 170-175 range, and many schools will average scores if an applicant has taken the exam multiple times. This means that it is best practice to study as much as possible before taking the exam.

Amy C. Marshall, attorney, mentions that some law school programs will accept the GRE in place of the LSAT. With this in mind, it is a good idea to check which exam your preferred schools will accept ahead of starting the studying process.

3. Law School

After receiving a satisfactory score on the LSAT, it is time to prepare for studies at an accredited law school to receive a Juris Doctorate. Most law schools have three year programs that aim to prepare prospective attorneys on various legal processes. Typically, curriculum will start with less specific subject matter before branching off into more specific areas of expertise based on the interest of the student.

The latter half of law school is where students are able to focus on specialized courses to learn about areas such as environmental law, bankruptcy law, tax law, family law, civil law, and other specialties. Amy C. Marshall, lawyer, notes that there will undoubtedly be some tough classes in law school, but staying on the course is critical. Reminding yourself of your passion for law and drawing motivation from your goals can be extremely helpful for surviving law school.

4. Passing the Bar

The Bar exam can differ from state to state, but one thing that each will have in common is that it will test prospective attorneys on their legal knowledge, competency, and skills through a variety of multiple choice questions, essays, and exercises. The exam is usually two days, with the first including six 30-miute essays and the next featuring questions that test one’s knowledge of state law.

The Bar may also include the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) which is, in essence, an ethics exam.

Passing the bar is something that every aspiring attorney wants to do, but it is not an easy process. After taking the exam, board examiners will weigh out factors such as one’s character (as noted through the ethics exam), education, competence, and ability to practice law in the respective state. Granted all of these pan out, a candidate will be accepted into the bar and receive licensure.

Honing Your Craft as an Attorney

After schooling and the bar is completed, an attorneys job is far from done. It is now time to branch off on one’s career path and really make a name for oneself in the legal field. One of Amy’s favorite things about the legal sector is that it is constantly evolving, which means that staying on the cutting-edge is a never-ending process. Even after traditional education, there is always more to learn!

The best way to really set oneself apart is to draw inspiration from gaining more knowledge. The most successful attorneys are constant students of their areas of expertise and take advantage of opportunities to learn new skills, hone old ones, and ultimately keep growing as professionals.

After graduating from the Birmingham School of Law, with internships and clerking experience, Amy embarked on an extraordinary journey that led her to the far reaches of Alaska.

There, she honed her legal expertise as a member of the U.S. Army’s Judge Advocate General office. Upon returning to her hometown in Wiregrass, Alabama, she carved her path in the legal world by establishing her own firm.

Specializing in divorce, child custody, and family law cases, Amy has become a beacon of support for those navigating challenging legal matters. From her college triumphs to her impactful legal career, this journey has been one of dedication and unwavering commitment to serving others in their time of need.

Marshall’s path to becoming an attorney represents the variety of routes that over 1.3 million people in the U.S. take to become a lawyer. No two paths to practicing law are exactly the same, but they share very important steps along the way.

Impressive Skillsets

Lawyers play essential roles in various fields, including tax law and family law, criminal law, corporate law, and even legal work for philanthropic organizations, according to The Dwoskin Family Foundation.

That means prospective attorneys must develop wide-ranging knowledge and skills to practice law effectively. In addition to general analytical, research, problem-solving, and communication skills, some often need to understand basic finance and accounting concepts.

Such skills are developed quickly in college. The overwhelming majority of lawyers earn a bachelor’s degree and then move on to law school.

Bachelor programs generally include all the required education prospective lawyers need to qualify for law school, however, one doesn’t necessarily need to enroll in a specific or common pre-law major, such as political science, finance, sociology, criminal justice, or psychology, to get into law school but certain majors do provide a significant leg up. But it all starts with a thorough college search.

Test Time

After undergraduate studies, the next challenge is the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), the longtime standard to assess law school readiness.

At one time, U.S. law schools required passing the LSAT to gain admission, but now several schools, including Harvard Law School, accept the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) exam as an alternative. Students in graduate school usually take the GRE prior to applying for work in various law fields.

Next Stop: Law School

Admission to law school means pursuing a juris doctor (JD). In the U.S., a JD is nationally accepted as a degree for practicing law. JDs are offered by over 200 law schools that have been accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA).

Many law school students choose JD programs that offer curriculums focused on their specific law interests so they can concentrate on certain fields. Popular law school concentrations include family law, labor law, civil rights law, and health law. Usually, students complete law school in three years.

Pass the Bar

Regulations for practicing law vary from state to state, but the majority require lawyers to not only graduate from a law school approved by the ABA but pass a state’s bar examination in order to begin practicing in that state.

Bar exam guidelines also vary by state, but it’s usually a two-day test that includes finishing the Multistate Bar Examination before moving on to a writing exam that covers an array of legal matters.

The final decision is up to the state board of bar examiners, who review each candidate’s character, educational history, competence, and ability to effectively represent clients.

And There’s (Maybe) More

Passing a state’s bar exam may not mean a lawyer’s education is over. A graduate’s first job out of law school is usually as an associate in a firm where they gain mentorship from more seasoned lawyers. Some are selected to become firm partners after years of practice, while others, like Marshall, launch their own law office.

There are also master’s and doctoral levels of education lawyers may pursue. Two of the most common choices, a Master of Law (LLM) and Ph.D. program, usually appeal to lawyers who want to include research and other forms of scholarship in their careers.