Whether you're seeking the assistance of a lawyer or contemplating going to law school, there is a general confusion in the people regarding what kinds of attorneys are there. Some people today assume that a lawyer is a lawyer, so any lawyer will be able to provide whatever legal services that they need. While technically this is true because a lawyer is licensed to practice law (minus a few exceptions where further licensing is required), the law is so huge and all-encompassing it is impossible for a single lawyer to effectively provide legal services across every different area of law. Much like physicians, where there's a focus on a particular field of the body, particular age groups, or particular kinds of ailments and diseases, lawyers typically specialize in one, or a few relevant kinds of law. Below is a listing of 18 of the most frequent kinds of attorneys (in no specific order) and short descriptions of every lawyers' law clinic. "
Bankruptcy Lawyer
Bankruptcy attorneys allow you to file for bankruptcy or employment via your bankruptcy that will assist you get out of debt. There are distinct subsets of bankruptcy attorneys who represent the debtor (the person or company filing for bankruptcy) and the lender (the ones who are owed money by the borrower and want to recover as much of the money as possible throughout the insolvency ). There are also attorneys who focus on different kinds of bankruptcy. The most common kinds are Chapter 7 bankruptcy attorneys (Chapter 7 is if an individual or a company wants to liquidate/dissolve their assets in order to eliminate their debts), Chapter 11 bankruptcy lawyers (Chapter 11 is when a company [or person within a company] wants to restructure their debts to get back on track), and Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorneys (Chapter 13 is another form of chapter 11 for individuals where you restructure your debts to get on a more affordable payment schedule, and it's still possible to keep most of your resources ). Many bankruptcy lawyers can handle unique types of bankruptcies but some just specialize in one kind of claim. Make sure that you find a bankruptcy lawyer that is familiar with managing situations like your own, more interesting ideas.
Immigration Lawyer
An immigration lawyer will help with anything relating to bringing a relative, worker, or individual into the USA from another nation. Most immigration lawyers' clinics rely heavily on businesses since they need employment visas so as to attract employees to the USA from overseas. There are an array of forms to file with every government entity involved and intricate legislation to be followed to be able to apply a non-citizen.
Personal Injury Lawyer
Personal injury (PI) lawyers are the types of attorneys that handle mishaps and accidents of any character. Personal injury lawyers become involved when you are in a car accident, a doctor misdiagnoses an illness, you had awful side effects from a prescription medication that they didn't warn you about, you were injured by a defective product, and much more. This is probably the most common type of attorney that you see advertisements on TV, park benches, bus stops, and everywhere else. Their cases can lead to huge financial settlements or decisions, typically involving insurance firms. PI attorneys work for contingency fees, meaning they only have a proportion of their money they recover for you in court, and it will cost you nothing if you lose. The typical contingency fee ranges from 33%-40%. Because of this, it is important that you understand how to choose the ideal personal injury lawyer, since they basically charge the same fee, but a good lawyer can make all of the difference when it comes to winning your case and recovering a sizable financial award.
Criminal Defense Lawyer
Criminal defense lawyers help defend people accused of committing a crime against prosecution from the authorities, with the objective of reducing their sentencing or helping them stay out of jail. The crimes handled by criminal defense lawyers vary from small offenses such as shoplifting to serious crimes such as 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 after, look more here.
So, now you know a bit more about what types of attorneys you will find. If you are wanting to employ a lawyer, it's important to figure out how to find the right attorney for your needs. Even though there are numerous overlapping practice areas, each type of law is different and you will want to be certain to find an attorney that specializes in the type of legal service that you want. Doing otherwise is insecure and can cause unnecessary legal problems in the future.