At some point in your life, you will probably interact with at least one lawyer— if not more. Like many other professions, each legal specialty fills a specific need. In fact, there are over 1.33 million lawyers in the United States alone. But what do they do exactly? There are many different types of lawyers and the types of cases they handle cover a wide range of possibilities. Below you will find five different types of lawyers you may find yourself in need of and exactly what they do.
A personal injury lawyer is someone that provides legal representation to an individual or persons that have suffered an injury due to the negligence of another person or party. Personal injury lawyers work in tort law, which includes negligent and intentional acts, and they pursue compensation for victims who have been injured in many types of accidents.
Personal injury cases are made up of three issues: liability, fault, and damages. In order to have a legitimate personal injury claim, you must be able to prove that liability, fault, and damages are connected— meaning the accused is responsible for the injuries that you have experienced. Oftentimes these types of claims are hard to prove because of the complex legal and financial issues required in order to be awarded compensation for the damages that you have undergone
If you have been injured in an accident due to the negligence of another individual or party, you only have two options: you can rely on the insurance provider of the negligent person or party at fault for your injuries to provide you with legitimate advice, or you can hire an experienced personal injury lawyer to represent you in the best way they know how. Unfortunately, many insurance providers have only their best interests in mind and are solely committed to increasing their profits. Personal injury lawyers represent only the injured victims’ and will serve their best interests, and will only be committed to getting you the compensation that you deserve.
Personal injuries can happen in many different ways. A few of the most common types of personal injury cases include automobile accidents, trucking accidents, premises liability, product liability, workplace injury, nursing home abuse, aviation accident, boating/maritime accident, police misconduct, and dangerous drugs & medical devices.
Injuries that can result from the above accidents include: death, amputations, burn injuries, broken bones, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, scarring & disfigurement, paralysis, and more.
When you suffer one of these serious injuries, you will more than likely be faced with many difficulties, including pain and suffering, the inability to work, and substantial medical expenses. The right personal injury lawyer will seek damages well beyond the small offerings an insurance provider usually makes. The types of compensation that are often awarded include past and future medical/rehab expenses, loss of income, loss of earning capacity, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and more.
The specific duties of personal injury lawyers typically depend on the type of case they are dealing with and where that case is at in the legal process. Some of the things that personal injury lawyers may do during your case may include investigating the claim, gathering evidence, negotiating with insurance providers, sending demand letters to the insurance provider, preparing pleadings, organizing discovery processes, and representing their clients at trial (if the case makes it to trial).
Without the representation of a personal injury lawyer, accident victims are at the mercy of insurance providers that unfortunately put their profits over your recovery.
A medical malpractice lawyer is an attorney who focuses on helping victims who have been injured by a doctor or hospital while under their care. Both personal injury and medical malpractice law serve to correct the civil wrong when someone is injured as a result of the negligence of another. In fact, medical malpractice is a subset of personal injury law. Although there are many similarities between the two practice areas, medical malpractice cases are oftentimes much more complex than standard personal injury cases.
Unfortunately, medical malpractice happens often. According to a recent study done by Johns Hopkins, over 250,000 individuals in the United States die in a given year due to medical errors, making it the third leading cause of death.
Medical malpractice lawyers resolve legal disputes on behalf of their clients. Those clients could be a patient or surviving family members of patients.
Malpractice refers to professional wrongdoing by a medical professional or hospital. Medical malpractice generally involves the negligent acts of nurses, physicians, therapists, dentists, technicians, and any other medical professionals and healthcare providers.
In order to pursue a medical malpractice case, the victim must be able to prove that a doctor-patient relationship existed, the acting doctor acted negligently, the negligence of that doctor was the sole cause for your injuries, and the injury resulted in specific damages including but not limited to mental agony, physical pain, added medical bills, and lost work and earning capacity. If these things cannot be proven, then you may not have a successful medical malpractice case.
Medical malpractice cases can emerge from many different errors. Those include birth injuries, medical misdiagnosis, anesthesia errors, failure to treat, surgical errors, medication errors, and many more.
Medical malpractice lawyers perform many day-to-day tasks of a typical civil litigator. This means that there is a legal dispute, but no criminal charges are involved. Medical malpractice lawyers spend a lot of their time interviewing clients, organizing investigations, drafting motions, creating trial strategies, and litigating the cases themselves. Other tasks that are performed by a medical malpractice lawyer, include:
Criminal defense lawyers fulfill many important roles throughout a criminal case. Within the complicated criminal justice system, a defense lawyer has the responsibility to defend a person who has been charged with a crime and is required to speak on their behalf. A criminal defense lawyer can be assigned the case by the court or can be contacted directly by the accused.
There are two types of criminal defense lawyers: public defenders (paid by the government) who are appointed by local, state, or federal courts and criminal defense lawyers hired by private firms (typically work out of a legal office that they operate themselves).
Once a criminal defense lawyer meets their client in person, they will gather as many details as possible about the case. One key job duty for a criminal defense lawyer is similar to that of an investigator. A lot of their time is spent going through evidence concerning the charges their client is facing. Criminal defense lawyers will ask specific questions to learn more about possible defenses, strengths, and weaknesses regarding the case. This takes careful and thorough questioning of the accused. Once these questions are asked and answered, further investigation into the case begins to determine any possible routes of acquitting the accused. This could include questioning law enforcement about tactics they used and talking with witnesses who have more information on the case. Each piece of information is used to build the strongest case possible in order to defend their client.
Criminal defense lawyers also help prepare pleas, analyze prosecutor’s cases, assess the potential sentencing, and much more. Criminal defense lawyers advise on possible consequences of a plea, conviction, or criminal record and negotiate deals with prosecutors. Those deals may include reduced bail, reduced charges, and reduced sentences. In addition, criminal defense lawyers offer the accused a reality check in regards to the possible outcomes they may face for their crime and help the accused through the frustrations and fears that may arise in the criminal justice system. If no plea deal is made, a criminal defense lawyer will represent their client at trial.
Criminal defense lawyers are able to handle all types of criminal charges, even ones that may seem of minor importance. Experienced criminal defense lawyers know just how to navigate the criminal justice system to make sure that their clients are not at the mercy of prosecutors and judges who are solely concerned with obtaining a conviction.
Criminal defense lawyers represent people that are charged with murder, drug-related crimes, fraud, extortion, embezzlement, white-collar crimes, violent crimes, marijuana violations, and more.
A civil plaintiff lawyer is typically referred to as a litigator or trial lawyer. This is a specific type of lawyer that is hired by a client in order to defend or pursue a civil lawsuit. Civil plaintiff lawyers manage each phase of a case from the investigation, pleadings, and discovery to the pre-trial, trial, settlement, and appeal process. A civil plaintiff lawyer can specialize in any of the following legal fields:
Civil disputes usually involve a party or organization seeking compensation for damages or injuries suffered due to the negligence of another individual or party. The nature of civil disputes generally focuses on people, relationships, and property.
Civil plaintiff lawyers represent clients in non-criminal legal suits. Clients can be government entities, businesses, or individuals. Civil lawyers provide legal strategies and advice on civil cases and they represent a wide variety of proceedings for their clients, including pretrial hearings, depositions, arbitration, mediation, and the trial itself (if/when the case makes it to trial). Many of the procedures during these proceedings are geared toward having each party (accused and plaintiff) reach a settlement without having to invest the time and money into going into court.
Some general job duties a civil plaintiff lawyer will do include:
Experienced civil plaintiff lawyers have the skillset and knowledge that are crucial to litigation practice, including strong written and verbal advocacy skills, the ability to combine complicated legal and factual materials, analytical and logical reasoning capacity, client development skills, negotiation skills, knowledge of research techniques, and more. All of these skill sets help civil plaintiff lawyers successfully represent their clients.
During the investigation process, civil plaintiff lawyers will conduct an initial case investigation to decide if there is an ample amount of evidence to authorize filing a claim. The investigation process includes finding witnesses, taking witness statements, collecting relevant documents, interviewing the client, and investigating the facts that lead to the dispute.
Oftentimes civil plaintiff lawyers will take part in pre-litigation settlement discussions in an attempt to settle the dispute before a lawsuit is filed.
Employment lawyers provide a wide variety of services to employees and employers. Some of the tasks that employment lawyers assist with include helping clients understand their legal rights and helping them fight for these rights to recover from injuries that have happened within the workplace.
Employees that experience prejudiced or unfair labor practices at their workplace can include harassment, wrongful termination, wage and hour violations, employer retaliation, sexual harassment, Family and Medical Leave Act violation, and more.
Another part of employment law is workers’ compensation. Worker’s compensation claims emerge when employees become injured on the job or become ill because of their job. A lot of the time employees experience these violations but are too frightened to speak out or are not aware of their rights.
For most employment law situations, a claim has to be filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or other government agencies before an employee is allowed to pursue a private cause of action. An employment lawyer can help an employee file a complaint with the correct agency and explain the statute of limitations, the time limit in which you must file a claim by.
Employment lawyers who have employees as their clients are only responsible for that employee. They are in charge of ensuring that their client is receiving fair compensation and that they are working in a safe environment. They also represent employees in court when an employer mistreats them in any sort of way. Employment lawyers help negotiate with insurance providers for a larger payout (for injured workers in workers’ compensation claims), help seek out a larger amount for their clients in civil court, and in some cases, can negotiate with the employer or insurance provider for a settlement before they get to court.
It is crucial to have an experienced employment lawyer on your side because of the power imbalance that is involved. Employers almost always have more money and better resources than their employees. This allows for the employer to hire the best representation for themselves, leaving the employee to fend for themself with less money and resources. Plus, many employers have insurance policies to protect them from claims like this. Most employer-based insurance providers’ goals are to pay out the least amount possible, resulting in paying minimal settlements to their victims. Employment lawyers have the resources and tenacious attitude to hold employers and insurance providers responsible to ensure that the victim receives the amount of compensation they deserve.
It is not unusual for employees to find themselves working under insufferable conditions or being denied income and benefits when injured on the job. When you find yourself in one of these situations, you should not have to worry about losing your job during this difficult time. If you believe that you have suffered from any of the above employment violations, contact an experienced employment law lawyer today.
