Whether you're seeking the assistance of a lawyer or considering moving to law school, there is a general confusion in the population regarding what kinds of attorneys are there. Some people today assume that a lawyer is a lawyer, and so any attorney will be able to supply whatever legal services they need. While technically this is true because a lawyer is licensed to practice law (minus a couple of exceptions in which further licensing is required), the law is so vast and all-encompassing it is impossible for a single attorney to effectively provide legal services across every distinct field of lawenforcement. Much like doctors, where there is a concentration on a specific field of the entire body, particular age groups, or particular kinds of disorders and diseases, lawyers typically specialize in a single, or a couple of relevant kinds of lawenforcement. Below is a list of 18 of the most frequent kinds of attorneys (in no specific order) and brief descriptions of each lawyers' law practice. "
Finance & Securities LawyerFinance and Securities lawyers only function in a really specific sector of law. They are inclined to only deal with problems regarding banks and individuals issuing money, or to companies selling stock. They can also help protect customers if the IRS or SEC documents a complaint against a individual or a company.
Intellectual Property Lawyer (IP)Intellectual Property, or IP, attorneys deal with anything having to do with protecting intellectual property, that is subjective (something you may 't touch such as a tune or an idea) property. The three major regions of law inside intellectual property are copyright, trademark, and patent. Some IP attorneys just concentrate on copyright and trademark issues, while some just focus on patent problems. Patent law is one area that requires additional licensing than just a regular law degree and also requires a technical background (such as one in technology, software development, chemistry, or life sciences). Since IP laws are very technical and distinct from one another, attorneys don't tend to handle all these problems (nevertheless IP law firms will have a team of attorneys who can help you with some of them). Like many areas of law, there are ordinary IP attorneys and IP litigators. The normal IP lawyers help with the filings needed to safeguard your IP, while litigators are the ones who go to court to battle who possesses what IP and just how much IP protects the person in a given dispute.
Criminal Defense LawyerCriminal defense attorneys help protect individuals accused of committing a crime against prosecution by the authorities, with the objective of reducing their probation or helping them remain out of jail. The crimes handled by criminal defense lawyers range from little offenses such as shoplifting to more serious crimes such as DUI, drug trafficking, assault and battery life, or even murder. Many attorneys who practice criminal defense had previous experience working on the prosecution side at the Office of the District Attorney (DA), either while at law school or later.
Mergers & Acquisitions Lawyer (M&A)Mergers and acquisition (M&A) attorneys manage the purchasing and selling of businesses. The selling and buying of major companies can be a very lengthy and intricate process which usually involves a team of lawyers. M&A attorneys tend to be somewhat well-versed in securities and finance laws, in addition to tax law, to be certain they structure the prices, aka the purchase or sale of the client's company, right.
Business Lawyer (also known as Corporate Lawyer)Company law is very broad, and company lawyers will often deal with different areas of law discussed below, including employment, intellectual property, and mergers and acquisitions. Occasionally these lawyers just focus on basic business legal tasks such as forming your own company, while others are more encompassing and will operate on all types of business requirements from employment problems to taxation compliance. Additionally, some lawyers focus only on small businesses and startups, but some focus on large enterprises. Keep in mind that there are business transactional lawyers and business litigation lawyers as well. The gap between both of these different types of business lawyers are important, in that company transactional lawyers handle trades (for instance, negotiating deals) and drafting documents (like employment agreements), whilst business litigation lawyers handle your suits (such as when someone sues your employer for violating the terms of a contract). The majority of the time, a business transactional lawyer will not conduct business litigation, and vice versa, although there are exceptions.
Immigration LawyerAn immigration lawyer will help with anything relating to bringing a family member, worker, or individual into the United States from another country. Most immigration lawyers' practices rely heavily on companies since they require employment visas in order to attract employees to the USA from abroad. There are an array of forms to document with every government entity involved and intricate legislation to be followed in order to apply a non-citizen.
So, now you know a bit more about what types of lawyers you will find. If you're wanting to employ a lawyer, it's very important to figure out how to find the ideal attorney for your needs. Even though there are numerous overlapping clinic areas, each kind of law is different and you'll need to make sure to get a lawyer that specializes in the type of legal service you want. Doing otherwise is insecure and can cause unnecessary legal problems in the future.
