If you are someone planning to enter the legal profession or just someone looking for a lawyer, you might be wondering ‘How many different types of lawyers are there?’ or ‘What are the different types of attorneys?’
In this article, we briefly discuss the different types of lawyers or attorneys to help you better understand the profession. It must be noted that just like the medical field has various specialties; the legal profession is no different. There are a wide range of lawyers practicing different types of law, which just means that they handle specific types of cases. It can range anywhere from corporate to personal with so much more in between.
The article will discuss some of the most basic types of lawyers and the type of cases they manage. It can be anywhere from dealing with legal or medical malpractice, family law, civil rights, or employment disputes. If you are pursuing a law degree or looking to get legal help than you need to read through this page to better understand what direction you want to take your legal career or matter.
The Different Types of Lawyers
In order to better explain the topic, we have compiled the following list of various legal professions / lawyers:
1. Environmental Lawyer
Environmental lawyers deal with laws and regulations related to the environment. This type of law has become an area of interest in recent years as people have become more conscious about the environment. The environmental lawyers usually deal with cases of climate change, clean air/water, public health, compliance issues, disputes about land or coastline, and the legislative protection of natural resources.
2. Business Lawyer (Corporate Law)
Corporate attorneys (also known as business lawyers) usually work in a law firm or as a company’s in-house counsel in different roles. These types of lawyers handle legal matters for the businesses and ensure the company operates within the scope of the local, state, and federal laws.
These types of lawyers can specialize in a lot of different areas, including mergers, acquisitions, formation or dissolution of a business, patents, contract development and maintenance, deal negotiations, trademarks, and much more.
3. Criminal Lawyers
There are two different types of lawyers in the criminal law practice – prosecutor and defense lawyer – which work either for the state or practice independently. The prosecutors usually work for the state, and their job requires them to present a case against the accused for breaking the law, while, the role of a defense lawyer is to defend the accused. These lawyers represent the accused in court based on their best interest.
4. Family Lawyer
Family lawyers handle any type of domestic relations or family-related issues, including adoption, guardianship, paternity, and even child welfare. However, these types of lawyers are most famous for handing divorces (also known as divorce lawyers), child custody, alimony, writing prenuptial agreements, or helping resolve any familial disputes.
5. Entertainment Lawyer
Entertainment lawyers provide services to the entertainment industry, including film, music and even sports. These types of lawyers usually represent athletes, artists, actors, musicians, or even brands. Entertainment lawyers may help negotiate contracts, or act as liaison between their clients and others. These lawyers can also assist in trademark licensing agreements, royalty issues and much more.
6. Immigration Lawyer
Immigration lawyers provide guidance to individuals regarding visa requirements, green cards, or obtaining citizenship. These attorneys may also assist refugee and asylum seekers. Furthermore, these types of lawyers don’t spend as much time dealing with disputes in civil courts, but act as advisors or mediators between clients and immigration authorities.
However, they sometimes do need to make appearances in court with issues of deportation or criminal cases against an immigrant.
7. Tax Lawyer
These types of lawyers help individuals with issues concerning their taxes and any issues they come across. Tax attorney specializes in federal, state or local tax laws and guide their clients through the complex tax laws and regulations. These lawyers also help clients prepare for audit and can help their clients minimize their tax liabilities.
8. Personal Injury Lawyer
Personal Injury Lawyers represent individuals who have received injury by a third-party and help them in obtaining compensation in the form of damages. For example, a personal injury attorney will help a client who was hurt during a car accident or even a family member who died in such an instance.
9. Civil Litigation Lawyer
This is also similar to a personal injury lawyer in a sense that these types of attorneys deal with all matters of civil lawsuits. If you are planning to sue someone or responding to someone’s lawsuit against you, then you will require a civil litigation lawyer to represent you in court. However, a civil litigation attorney does not deal with government disputes.
10. Employment or Labor Lawyer
Employment lawyers represent employees or employers with issues at the work-place. These types of lawyers deal with a number of different cases, including:
- Privacy Rights
- Termination of Employment
- Sexual Harassment
- Wage and Overtime Standards
- Any Type of Discrimination
- Workplace Safety
Labor lawyers can also focus on union management relations and collective bargaining.
11. Intellectual Property Lawyer
Intellectual Property Lawyer (also known as IP attorney) deals with issues related to intellectual property, such as copyrights, trademarks, patents and more. The lawyers under this field usually have three responsibilities, including:
- Guiding clients on the best way to protect their intellectual property.
- Help protect their intellectual property through trademarks, copyrights, or patents.
- Take action in case of infringement.
12. Estate Planning Lawyer
This type of lawyer specializes in wills and trusts, and can help you handle passing assets both inside and outside the will or trust, They also ensure that tax and other legal issues are addressed during the whole process, while protecting the assets rom lawsuits and creditors. Estate Planning Lawyers also advise clients about life insurance and retirement plans.
13. Digital Media / Internet Lawyer
Digital media and internet lawyers deal with litigation concerning the internet or other types of technology. The clients usually need help with privacy issues, copyright laws, online terms and conditions, and even harassment cases against children. However, these type of matters are also undertaken by Intellectual Property Lawyer and Civil Litigation Lawyer.
14. Bankruptcy Lawyer
These types of lawyers specialize in either consumer bankruptcy or commercial bankruptcy. They advise clients regarding their eligibility for bankruptcy, prepare their legal paperwork and represent them in court. Bankruptcy attorneys also guide their clients on when to file for bankruptcy and what type of bankruptcy to consider depending on their particular circumstances.
Bankruptcy lawyers also work with debtors and creditors to inform them about their clients bankruptcy filing and file the associated paperwork.
These were some of the different types of lawyers or attorneys that you may want to hire depending on their case or if you are planning on becoming a lawyer yourself, these are some of the options you may want to consider.
Let us know if we missed anything in the comments below.
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