The main thing to keep in mind as a citizen in need of a lawyer is that you want to hire someone who knows the special area of law that you need help dealing with.
Have you ever found yourself in a sticky legal situation and wondered what type of lawyer to contact? Or, have you ever wondered how attorneys can handle regulating all different types of laws? Well, there is one answer to both of those questions; there are about as many different styles of lawyers as there are different styles of laws. If you are a new paralegal who is looking for some inspiration for work, or if you are a law student who wants to strike out the path of their specialty early on, then you should familiarize yourself with some of the common types of law practice. No matter what your reason is for wondering, it certainly does not hurt to familiarize yourself with the legal system. Here are five different types of law practices with brief descriptions!
Business Law
Business law practices deal with a variety of issues within the world of business. This area of the letter of the law essentially outlines governance for commerce and related enterprises. One example of what business law might look like in practice would be patent attorneys filing patents for their clients so that they can have sole ownership rights of a concept or invention. Another example would be an attorney who is on retainer for a company representing said company during a contract dispute with a client. Overall, business law practices deal with anything that could be related to the trade of goods or ideas and the many disputes or other issues which could arise during the process of trading.
Environmental Law
Environmental attorneys practice all law regarding environmental rights, rules and regulations. An environmental law practice might deal with a government agency or even a corporation. A large amount of work is generally split between these two areas, government and corporate, but can deal with issues such as pollution, federal environmental law breaking and defense of corporations who have been accused of environmental atrocities.
Family Law
Family law is one of the most commonly heard about and spoken about types of law practices. This area of practice encompasses everything from marital disputes to childhood welfare. Family law attorneys tend to work closely with social workers as well as the family’s whom they help with legal issues. Attorneys can even go further in their specialties and represent issues solely concerning things like divorce settlements, alimony issues or adoption.
Medical Law
Medical law practice refers to any law practice that lays out governance for medical professionals and their patients. Typically, all hospitals at least one lawyer on retainer to represent their best interests in the event of disputes of any nature. Disputes can include employee issues with the hospital, patient rights issues and more. Medical law can also include law practices that solely represent patients who have been wronged by a medical professional or have suffered personal injury in the event of a car crash or some similar issue. Malpractice and personal injury lawyers are typically some of the highest earning lawyers out there.
Criminal Law
Criminal law practice deals with issues concerning people breaking criminal laws. In short, this means that the offense can in some way be construed as an offense that disrupts or harms society in general. For example, if a person were to rob a jewelry store and get caught, they would be tried in criminal law.
There are even more areas of specialization than the five mentioned above. Some others include commercial law, media law and public law. The main thing to keep in mind as a citizen in need of a lawyer is that you want to hire someone who knows the special area of law that you need help dealing with. If you are an emerging attorney, then you want to know some information before you pick a specialty. Or, maybe you are just curious about different law practices! Hopefully this has helped to educate and inform you about the varying styles of law practice.
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