Whether you are seeking the assistance of a lawyer or contemplating going to law school, there is a general confusion in the population regarding what types of lawyers are there. Some people assume that a lawyer is a lawyer, and so any attorney will have the ability to supply whatever legal services they want. While technically this is the case because a lawyer is licensed to practice law (without a couple of exceptions in which additional licensing is required), the law is so vast and all-encompassing that it is impossible for a single attorney to effectively provide legal services across every different area of lawenforcement. Much like physicians, where there is a focus on a particular area of the body, specific age groups, or specific kinds of ailments and diseases, lawyers typically specialize in a single, or a couple of relevant types of law. Below is a list of 18 of the most common types of attorneys (in no particular order) and short descriptions of each lawyers' law clinic. "
Finance & Securities LawyerFinance and Securities attorneys only operate in a very specific sector of legislation. They are inclined to only deal with problems regarding individuals and banks issuing money, or to companies selling stock. They can also help defend clients if the IRS or SEC documents a complaint against a person or a corporation.
Mergers & Acquisitions Lawyer (M&A)Mergers and acquisition (M&A) attorneys deal with the buying and selling of companies. The buying and selling of important companies can be a very lengthy and complex process which usually involves a group of attorneys. M&A attorneys tend to be very well-versed in finance and securities laws, in addition to taxation law, to be certain they structure the deals, aka the purchase or sale of their client's firm, correctly.
Family LawyerYou probably could have guessed what a family attorney does. A family lawyer handles anything having to perform lead family problems. Sometimes this includes family or estate planning, but usually family lawyers handle matters like divorce, custody battles, prenuptial agreements, and other issues surrounding marriage and kids. While some just concentrate on divorce, most family lawyers cover all areas of family law.
Company Lawyer (also called Corporate Lawyer)Business law is very broad, and company attorneys will often deal with different regions of law discussed below, including intellectual, intellectual property, and mergers and acquisitions. Occasionally these lawyers just focus on basic business legal tasks such as forming your own company, while some tend to be more encompassing and will operate on all types of business needs from employment problems to tax compliance. Additionally, some attorneys focus just on small businesses and startups, while others concentrate on large enterprises. Remember that you will find business transactional lawyers and business litigation attorneys too. The difference between these two different types of business attorneys are significant, in that business transactional lawyers handle transactions (for instance, negotiating prices ) and drafting documents (such as employment arrangements ), whilst business litigation lawyers handle your suits (such as if someone sues your company for violating the terms of a contract). The majority of the time, a business transactional lawyer will not conduct business litigation, and vice versa, even though there are exceptions.
Tax AttorneyTax lawyers usually help companies and individuals comply with federal and state legislation when filing their tax returns. But a larger proportion of these lawyers go to court to defend you if the IRS audits you and you also face potential jail time or significant fines. Most individual tax attorneys also work in estate planning in some manner unless they operate from the tax department of a large corporation.
So, now you understand a bit more about what kinds of attorneys there are. If you're wanting to hire a lawyer, it's 's very important to work out how to find the ideal attorney for your needs. Although there are numerous overlapping clinic areas, each kind of law is different and you will want to make sure that you find an attorney that specializes in the sort of legal service that you need. Doing otherwise is insecure and can cause unnecessary legal problems later on.
