I don't have a background in law - no one remotely in my circle is a lawyer. I have been to district courts, and have heard some stories - first hand - from relatives and their colleagues. The general notion is: you have to be "street-smart" and "wicked" and "unscrupulous" to get your job done. Honestly, I don't deny it, I've seen and experienced it. However, is this true for HCs and the SC, and to what extent? I want to make into litigation, but a little anxious about it, probably more, because I'm prone to making mistakes.

P.S. Will be joing law school this year, probably, a "lower" NLU.

P.P.S. It would be better, if a litigating lawyer states his personal experience.

No, I've been a litigator for 2 years and a corp lawyer for 6months. You have to be very well read and knowledgeable to be a good litigator. People who think being street smart and wicked are non negotiables to be a litigator are stupid and ignorant to say the least. You can not get by with street smarts in litigation. On the contrary, you can get by being street smart at a corp job. As a litigator you don't have time for something like that, you are always reading researching, drafting FACTS. No place for 'street smart' there (it can help give you an edge but in no way is it a prerequisite). Being shrewd as a lawyer can make you use the laws and numerous applications to torture and wear out your opponents but that is that. The opposite party can look through fluff and judge can too. Please stop paying attention to anyone who is spreading such ignorance.

Long way to go before you don your robes. Thinking so far ahead is only going to cause anxiety. Try to stay in the present and focus on enjoying your time in college. Cultivate friendships, read lots, find good mentors.

As far as the nature of litigation goes, let me tell you that litigation reflects life. There are levels to litigation, but all courts exist as part of this world and are manned by people of this very world. All courts will thus mirror the world they are a part of.

The world is at times unscrupulous. People are unscrupulous or streetsmart or conniving or cruel. As a lawyer, you may be asked to work for them or work against them or with them. Develop an understanding of these aspects of human behavior. Empathy for the wicked or powerful as much as for the victims. It helps you forge varied professional relationships, or refine your approach to ease dispute.

You must try and understand that people have positive intentions for their actions, even if you judge those actions harshly. The streetsmart man may have to be so to survive in his ecosystem. The unscrupulous man may have been wronged and never met true justice. The criminal offender may have been abused as a young child.

What part of your observation of the world you allow to inherit as your personality is your job to filter. Good mentors will help you choose well if you choose your mentors well. There is room for the virtuous and also the wicked, both in litigation. Both can co-exist in a man; indeed both do in most of us. The wise lawyer knows he is not judge. The wise judge knows the lawyer is not a reflection of his case or client.

Enjoy your college years. Let this be your takeaway.