What is law school like?

Neonzeus
Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:36:13 +0000

Business math might be used fairly frequently. It can be necessary when negotiating settlements, particularly if dealing with structured settlements.

Math can be needed to understand damage claims (for example, if you have an unsophisticated corporate client you may need to suggest to the client that the client calculate its unabsorbed overhead for a claim and may need to know enough accounting and math to determine whether it was done correctly). It is a good idea to be able to read corporate balance sheets, which can be relevant to your practice in several ways if you’re either representing a company or involved in litigation with companies.

Other math requirements are fairly simple. Count 20 days to file an Answer to a Complaint, or make sure that a Court document doesn’t exceed a specified page limit. Keep track of your billable hours. If you’re a partner or sole practitioner, keep track of money in and money out. Keep track of hours charged against a budget established for a project, and develop a budget for a client.

At least that’s been my experience…some practices might use a lot more math?