As a pivotal instrument in keeping societies together, the law has evolved through innumerable instances of accidents, disagreements, disputes, and crimes among members of societies throughout history.
Over the ages, any kind of dispute—significant or otherwise—among people has led up to a rule of law in some shape or form as societies strived to come up with an ever-expanding set of settlements and solutions to keep order, preserve lives, protect properties, and achieve coexistence.
Today, there’s a multitude of different areas of legal practice that virtually cover every aspect of our lives. There are different types of lawyers each specializing in a specific set of subject matters.
Therefore, when facing a legal problem, it’s advised that you seek out an attorney who practices and focuses on that specific area to maximize your chances of resolving it. Here, we give you a general idea about different types of lawyers to help you figure out who you should seek out if you find yourself in need of a lawyer.
Family Lawyers
Family law pertains to the legal issues arising from relationship breakdowns and the disputes resulting from those separations. A family lawyer usually provides advice in relation to financial matters such as property settlement or helps parties with prenuptial agreements and parenting matters including child custody, child support, and alimony.
Personal Injury Lawyers
As the name suggests, personal injury law involves cases where there’s an injury to a person due to either negligence which is when someone’s action or failure to act unintentionally results in harms and damages like vehicle accidents, or intentional tort where an individual intends to harm and cause damage to another person such as battery or assault. A personal injury lawyer is a civil lawyer that works to recover money damages to compensate the client for the expenses caused by the incident. The personal injury compensation includes general damages and special damages including medical expenses, potential future damages due to permanent injuries, and lost wages.
Transactional or Corporate Lawyers
Corporate law relates to rules and regulations for business entities and corporate lawyers deal with the legalities of business transactions. They write, review, and negotiate contracts to prevent problems before they arise and to protect their clients’ rights. They get deals done, quantify risks, and help their clients with all legal matters of their business from forming, buying, or selling companies to structuring and mergers and acquisitions. Some corporate lawyers focus on more niche areas of corporate law such as employment or bankruptcy.
Criminal Lawyers
Perhaps the most portrayed lawyers in media, criminal lawyers are mostly involved in defending entities charged with criminal activity. They deal with a wide range of criminal cases from sex crimes, domestic crimes, and violent crimes to fraud and theft. They investigate cases, review witnesses, build criminal defenses, negotiate for bargains, and advocate at trials. Criminal defense lawyers can be privately retained or they are appointed by the court as public defendants.
Intellectual Property Lawyers
Intellectual property law revolves around protecting the rights of creators and owners of intangible assets such as trademarks, copyrights, patents, and designs. Intellectual property lawyers help businesses and corporations to protect their brand’s IP and keep others from infringing on their rights. In cases of infringement, they try to reach an amicable settlement, or in difficult cases, they take the matter to the court for adjudication.
Real Estate Lawyers
Real estate lawyers deal with all legal affairs associated with real estate. Real estate lawyers predominantly draft, negotiate and review purchase and sale agreements for properties. They also research property titles to ensure the thoroughness of the documentation and to see whether there has been any fraudulent transfer or if there is any piece of information missing. If an issue is found, it’s the lawyer’s job to clear the title. They also prepare all documentation for closing and make sure that they go on record.
Immigration Lawyers
Immigration lawyers help people with anything related to immigration which mainly includes defensive and affirmative applications. Immigration attorneys guide and help applicants through the process of attaining citizenship, student visas, and work visas or help prevent them from getting deported. They also help companies hire non-citizen workers and ensure that they comply with the law regarding foreign labor.
Estate Planning Lawyers
Estate planning lawyers, also known as estate law attorneys or probate attorneys, help clients with planning for death, disability, and incapacity. They do so by helping clients create a will, designate beneficiaries and powers of attorney, distribute assets, set up trusts, and find ways to minimize estate taxes.
General Practice Lawyers
General practice lawyers are the legal equivalents of general practice doctors. Most lawyers limit their practice to just a few subject matters but general practice lawyers work in a wide range of areas of law. If you’re dealing with a legal issue and don’t know what specialist you should consult, general practice lawyers are the best options to seek out and ask legal questions from.