What common misconceptions do people have about the legal process and lawyers? originally appeared on Quora, the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus.

Before I started Legalist and became a litigation funder, I took the LSAT and wanted to go to law school. I also grew up in a stereotypical immigrant family where doctor, lawyer, or professor were the only three endorsed job options. Since 10th grade, I wanted to be a lawyer.

But I didn’t really know what that meant. Over the last two years, I’ve talked to literally thousands of lawyers, from big firms and Ivy League law schools to solo shops. Here are the misconceptions I had about lawyers and what I learned:

Misconception: Law is a trade, not a business.

Reality: Law firms are profit-seeking businesses.

Law firms are highly hierarchical. Partners at law firms are responsible for bringing in clients, and their relative value at their law firm depends on their status as a “rainmaker.” Therefore, they spend most of their time selling. The vast majority of legal work is done by associates, or alternatively, service partners, who do not hold equity stake in the law firm and are paid on a salaried basis.

As a client, this means that aligning your incentives with the law firm’s incentives is tremendously important. If your law firm has “skin in the game” and upside to be gained from winning your case, they will consciously or unconsciously cut down on costs and seek to maximize gains. When we fund cases, we always look for skin in the game from the law firm involved.

Misconception: Making partner at a top law firm is about being the best lawyer.

Reality: Making partner at a top law firm is about bringing in business.

When you go to law school, you study case law and civil procedures. But in practice, law firms operate much more like traditional businesses than like heroic movie montages starring Atticus Finch or Clarence Darrow.

The truth is, law firms reward people who bring their own book of business. That means young lawyers have to either mine their own contacts for clients or alternatively, establish good relationships with older partners in order to inherit their book of business. If you’re coming out of law school, the most important thing for you to know is not how to try a case, but rather, how to get a client.

Misconception: Winning a case is all about the legal technicalities.

Reality: Winning a case is more often about common sense persuasion.

While there are notable exceptions to this, generally the law in civil courts is designed to produce equitable outcomes. The initial stages of a case can be full of technicalities, especially in the Motion to Dismiss stage, but especially once you get to a jury trial, the jury will be full of people just like you and me. They’re sworn to do their best to enforce the law, but they also want to see justice done.

A lawyer I know once said, “If the jury feels you deserve to win, they will drape the law over you to ensure you do.”

I do believe that inside each of us is a moral compass. We know fundamentally what is fair and what is not fair. The law is designed to uphold those principles. I think most of the time, it does.

Being a lawyer isn’t all Legally Blonde and games, but you do get the chance to stand up in court and help someone achieve justice. And that’s pretty cool in its own right. Even indirectly, I’m lucky to be a part of it.

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