Areas of Law
Appeals
An appeal is the process in which parties request that an
official decision be changed, corrected, clarified, or
interpreted.
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy allows debtors seek relief against their creditors.
Bankruptcy law is governed by the United States Code, which
contains several different chapters providing for different
types of bankruptcy relief.
Business Disputes
Disagreements between business entities often trigger
lawsuits, arbitration or mediation. Litigation attorneys help
businesses handle these disputes in various legal venues.
Business Formation
Transactional attorneys can help businesses formalize their
legal status as corporations, partnerships, limited liability
entities, professional associations, not-for-profit entities, etc.
Civil Rights & Discrimination
The United States Constitution, state constitutions, and other
laws provide basic rights to all citizens. Legal redress is
available to those who have suffered discrimination or other
civil rights violations.
Construction
Construction law deals with matters relating to building
construction, engineering, and related fields. It often involved
contract law, commercial law, planning law, employment law
and tort. Construction law affects financial institutions,
surveyors, quantity surveyors, architects, builders, engineers,
construction workers, planners, and home/land owners.
Consumer Rights
State and federal laws were created to protect the rights of
consumers and ensure fair trade, competition and accurate
information in the marketplace, so that businesses could not
engage in fraud or specified unfair practices.
Copyright, Patent & Trademark
Intellectual property law gives people and businesses property
rights to the information and intellectual goods they create,
usually for a limited period of time. Copyrights give the
creator of a work the exclusive right to reproduce that work.
Patents provide inventors with the legal right to exclude others
from making, using, selling, and importing their invention.
Trademarks are a recognizable signs, designs, or expressions
that identifies products or services of a particular source.
Criminal Defense
Government prosecutors much prove criminal charges beyond
a reasonable doubt. Lawyers defending the accused challenge
the charges, force the government meets its burden of proof, or
pursue a more lenient sentence.
Disability Law
Benefits and assistance are available to individuals who have
cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, or
sensory disabilities. Lawyers help individuals locate and
pursue the benefits and assistance that their disabilities
warrant.
Elder Law
Elder law focuses on legal issues affecting seniors, to help
prepare the elderly for financial freedom and autonomy
through proper financial planning and long-term care options.
Employment Law
Many statutes, rules and regulations deal with the rights and
responsibilities within employment relationships.
Employment law covers a wide range of issues from pension
plans and retirement, to occupational safety, to discrimination
in the workplace.
Family Law
Attorneys who practice family law help clients with divorce or
annulment, child custody and visitation rights, child support
payments, and spousal support/alimony.
Foreclosure Defense
When lenders begin legal foreclosure proceedings, attorneys
can help the debtor by seeking a loan modification, peaceably
resolving the claim or contesting the merits of the foreclosure
lawsuit itself.
Guardianships
A legal guardian is someone with legal authority and duty to
care for the personal and property interests of another person.
Guardians are typically used for minors, developmentally
disabled adults, and seniors who are incapacitated by age or
illness.
Immigration & Naturalization
Laws govern the ways in which citizens of foreign nations
come to the U.S. to live and work. Lawyers can help
immigrants secure their legal rights to be in the United States
via obtaining visas, establishing asylum or refugee status,
pursuing permanent residency (green card), or becoming
naturalized citizens.
Juvenile Delinquency & Dependency
A juvenile delinquent is a minor (less than 18 years old) who
has committed a crime. A juvenile dependent is a minor whose
parent or guardian has neglected or hurt them. Many
attorneys focus their practice on representing minors in these
situations.
Landlord / Tenant
Many statutes, rules and regulations deal with the rights and
responsibilities within landlord/tenant relationships. An
attorney can help either party evaluate their legal options
when issues arise between landlords and tenants.
Malpractice
When a professional - doctor, accountant, architect, attorney,
etc. - fails to act in accordance with the laws or professional
standards, victims of their malpractice can seek legal remedy.
Maritime & Admiralty
Maritime law, also known as admiralty law, is a body of laws,
conventions, and treaties that govern private maritime
business and other nautical matters, such as shipping or
offenses occurring on open water. (Investopedia)
Mediation/Arbitration
Alternative dispute resolution systems provide options outside
of the court system for parties to resolve their disagreements.
Mediations use a neutral third party who helps the disputants
explore their own agreed settlement. Arbitrators are neutral
third-parties who render final decisions in a quicker, more
streamlined process.
Military/Veterans Law
The men and women who serve in our nation’s armed services
have earned our nation’s gratitude, as well as access to the
many benefits and programs created for active military
personnel and veterans. Lawyers can help when that access
becomes challenged.
Personal Injury
Lawyers handling personal injury cases pursue fair
compensation and other remedies for victims who were
injured by car crashes, slip/trip and falls, defective products
and many other types of negligence.
Real Estate
Land, buildings and natural resources can be sold, leased,
farmed, or otherwise used. Real estate attorneys help people
secure property rights or transact those rights to others.
Social Security
Social Security laws provide benefits and protections to people
who have accumulated a sufficient amount of work credits and
made sufficient financial contributions. Attorneys handling
Social Security matters help their clients document and
substantiate their claims for benefits.
Traffic Tickets
Moving violations impose fines and points that can drive up
the premiums of car insurance or suspend/revoke a driver’s
license. Attorneys help ticketed drivers reduce or eliminate
the costs of those tickets.
Wills, Trusts, Estates & Probate
When people die, their survivors must ensure that legal
interests and rights are properly handled. Attorneys can help
individuals create wills and trust to provide direction for how
their estates (the sum of assets and liabilities) are to be
handled upon their death. Estates must be probated through
the Court system to ensure that legalities are addressed and to
resolve any disputes among the decedent’s survivors.
Workers Compensation
Injuries frequently occur in the workplace. Most jurisdictions
have workers compensation laws that offer limited remedies
to victims in exchange for not requiring proof of fault or
negligence.