Whether you're seeking the assistance of a lawyer or considering going to law school, there is a general confusion in the population as to what kinds of lawyers are there. Some people assume that a lawyer is a lawyer, so any attorney will be able to provide whatever legal services that they want. While technically this is true because a lawyer is licensed to practice law (without a couple of exceptions where additional licensing is required), the law is indeed vast and all-encompassing that it is impossible for one lawyer to effectively provide legal services across each different field of lawenforcement. Much like doctors, where there's a focus on a specific field of the body, specific age groups, or particular kinds of ailments and diseases, lawyers typically specialize in a single, or a few related kinds of law. Below is a listing of 18 of the most frequent types of attorneys (in no specific order) and brief descriptions of each attorneys ' law clinic. "
Criminal Defense LawyerCriminal defense attorneys help defend people accused of committing a crime against prosecution from the authorities, with the goal of reducing their probation or helping them remain out of jail. The crimes managed by criminal defense lawyers vary from small offenses like shoplifting to serious offenses like DUI, drug trafficking, assault and battery life, as well as murder. Many lawyers who practice criminal defense had past experience working on the prosecution side at the Office of the District Attorney (DA), either while in law school or later.
Employment & Labor LawyerEmployment & Labor lawyers are exactly as they seem; they handle issues relating to employment. They mostly deal with ensuring companies are complying with federal and state labor legislation. Much like corporate lawyers, you will find both litigation and transactional employment attorneys. Employment litigators are the ones who go to court to argue when/if a company violated the terms of an employment contract or state law, whereas transactional employment lawyers deal more with all of the employment records themselves when a employee is being hired. Some job lawyers do both litigation and transactional work.
Legal Malpractice or Professional Duty AttorneyThis is a rather market subset of lawyers, and there are not that many that concentrate on those areas of law as their specialty. Legal Malpractice or Professional Responsibility lawyers usually sue or protect attorneys when an attorney has violated their duties to a client (i.e. committed malpractice) or when a lawyer needs protection against a former client who's suing them. Lawyers, very similar to doctors, accountants, government officials, etc., have a strict set of industry certain rules they must abide by while practicing law. When they really violate or are accused of violating one of these principles, professional responsibility lawyers and legal malpractice lawyers become involved. Occasionally these lawyers are used before anything really goes wrong simply to be certain what is going to be done by means of a lawyer is really allowed.
Mergers & Acquisitions Lawyer (M&A)Mergers and acquisition (M&A) lawyers manage the purchasing and selling of businesses. The selling and buying of important companies can be a very long and complex process which usually involves a team of lawyers. M&A lawyers tend to be very well-versed in securities and finance legislation, in addition to taxation law, to make certain they structure the deals, aka the sale or purchase of their client's company, right.
So, you now understand a bit more about what kinds of lawyers you will find. If you're looking to hire a lawyer, it's important to figure out how to get the ideal lawyer for your needs. Even though there are many overlapping practice areas, each kind of law differs and you will need to make certain to find a lawyer that specializes in the type of legal service you need. Doing otherwise is risky and can create unnecessary legal trouble in the future.
