With 1,143,358 attorneys practicing in the 50 states, according to the latest 2007 figures tabulated by the American Bar Association's Market Research Department, it is irrefutable that lawyers are a necessary evil. The dramatic spike in demand for legal counselors can be attributed to an increased flurry of legal activity in such areas as intellectual property, sexual harassment, international law, and mergers and acquisitions. In their role as both advisors and advocates, jurists serve an important function in safeguarding the rights of Americans in civil and criminal law tribunals, at the state and federal level.
Legal specialties abound, and different types of lawyers are available in the marketplace to cater to consumers confronting a Pandora's box of run-of-the-mill or thorny legal issues. General practice attorneys provide representation on non-specialized and routine legal matters. Other attorneys specialize in one or a handful of practice areas and handle non-routine legal dossiers. Specialized lawyers will typically charge a higher hourly fee for their services than their general practice counterparts. In the U.S., law firms may be as small as a solo practice and as large as a mega-firm, the latter generally employing more than 1,000 associates and partners and maintaining overseas offices. Many attorneys work for mid-sized regional law firms or large, corporate firms. The mega-firms tend to view themselves as "full-service" institutions due to the fact that they boast multiple departments or practice groups specializing in almost every lucrative area of law. Through such an arrangement, they are able to extend a wide range of services to their clients and to diversify their target market. By contrast, small firms tend to specialize in such areas as personal injury, real estate, tax law, estate planning, criminal defense, labor law, and patent law, among others. Small law firms focusing on only one legal specialty, such as intellectual property or antitrust, are known as "boutique firms".
Consumers should begin their search by contacting the attorneys about whom they have heard or to whom reliable sources have referred them. For the initial interview, most lawyers provide a free consultation. The most prevalent forms of fee arrangements utilized by attorneys are as follows:
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Contingency fee
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Referral fee
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Flat fee
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Retainer fee
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Hourly rate
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Statutory fee
The most common legal specialties include the following:
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Product liability
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Family law (which includes divorce law and child support law)
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Immigration law
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Corporate and business law
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Bankruptcy law
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Employment law (which includes worker compensation and wrongful termination)
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Securities fraud
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Real estate law
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Construction law
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Patent trademark law
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Social security law
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Probate law
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Maritime law
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Traffic ticket law (license suspensions, aggressive driving, DUI)
Other important areas of practice in the legal arena are the following:
1. Litigation Law
Litigation lawyers specialize in a whole array of court litigation matters ranging from trials, hearings and prosecutions to arbitrations, injunctions, and mediations. They assist individuals and businesses in assessing their legal predicament and evaluating the likelihood of liability or recovery. The average litigation attorney will perform and be in charge of pre-trial discovery, such as examination of documents, requests for admission, interrogatories, and depositions. They can litigate or try cases before an arbitration panel or a judge and jury. Prospective clients seeking an attorney to sustain or reverse a lower court judgment should consult an appellate attorney, a litigator specializing in appeals.
2. Criminal Defense
Lawyers who practice criminal defense law defend businesses and individuals facing criminal investigations or charged with crimes (felonies or misdemeanors). They represent clients in legal matters involving white-collar crimes, civil rights actions, cyber crimes, juvenile crimes, professional licensure issues, as well as appeals and post-conviction relief, among other areas.
3. Personal Injury
Typical cases handled by law firms specializing in personal injury and accident law include:
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Car accident cases
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Motorcycle accident cases
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Wrongful death actions
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Dog bites
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Work accidents
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Swimming pool accidents
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False arrest
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Defamation
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Premises liability
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Slip and fall resulting in permanent disabilities, such as spinal cord injury
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Nursing home abuse
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Worker compensation/Health and disability claims
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Medical malpractice claims (wrongful birth, birth injury, brain injury, Erbs cerebral palsy)
4. Product Liability
Product liability lawyers handle cases dealing with the liability of a product's retailer, wholesaler, or manufacturer for injuries flowing from its dangerous and defective product. This area of the law covers an entire range of products ranging from drugs, appliances, tobacco and food to cars, medical implants and devices, and blood. Almost anyone injured by a dangerous or defective product can bring a civil action for damages against the retailer, manufacturer or other party in the product's distributive chain. Attorneys specializing in product liability represent individuals and businesses in toxic tort litigation, the most common injuries being those triggered by 1) asbestos (which can cause lung cancer and mesothelioma) and 2) manganese exposure, which has been linked to Parkinson's disease. In the latter case, a product liability lawyer will file a manganese lawsuit to collect damages for injuries suffered.