What does an attorney do?

Attorney is also called as lawyer. Their prime responsibility is to give advice to their clients about legal matters and represent them in both cases of civil and criminal. The process begins with the advice, the preparation of documents and pleadings and sometimes they had to appear in the court to represent their client to the advocate. According to the United State BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS, about 792,500 attorneys were employed in year 2016. This profession can be adopts by any male or female gender as there is no restriction.

Salary of an Attorney

Salary of an attorney depends whether he or she is working as a solo practitioner or working for any firm. It is said that attorneys who are self employed usually tend to earn less as compare to the attorney working for a firm.

Median annual salary: $120,920

Top 10 percent annual salary: it is more than $208,000

Bottom 10 percent annual salary: it is less than $58,220

Education, training and certification requirement for an Attorney:

For becoming an Attorney it requires seven years of full time study and further continuation of education.

Education:

An attorney should have the juris doctor degree from a registered school of law after completion of bachelor’s degree. The law school from where JD is going to be studied must be accredited with the AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION (ABA) that meets the licensing requirements of attorney in most states.

Testing:

For admission in law school it requires a test to past that is law school admission test (LSAT), passing this test shows the affinity of the student to study law.

Apprenticeship and volunteer work:

Law students can have practical experience while studying in law school and volunteer work requires volunteering in legal community clinics and taking part in competition or trials. They can also work during summer vacation or they can do part time jobs in firms of law. Some students practice with writing for their law journal.

Admittance to the bar:

Attorney should be admitted to the association bar of that state where they want to start practice. For this admission they had to pass the test that is a written examination including a written ethics test in some states.

Continuing education:

If you are graduated and you pass the test it never means that you are done with this profession. Some bars requires that their members must continue course of legal education on yearly basis and sometimes the requirement is after every three year if they want to maintain their membership with the bar association.

Most of the bar associations never accept the applicants if they have committed any conviction for the rules of that state or if they have history of alcohol or drug abuse. If any of the student misconduct during the academic sessions, this will also disqualify him from the application. 1

Types of attorney:

Here are different types of attorney:

Personal injury lawyer:

If anyone suffers with the car accident and had injury then he need to visit his personal injury lawyer. They help you gaining compensation of damage from other party.

Estate planning lawyer:

Such types of lawyers are Specializes in wills and trusts. They help you to pass the will of your assets and help to set the trust that will look after financial needs of your children.

Bankruptcy lawyer:

You should consult bankruptcy lawyer if you have difficulties regarding financial needs. Such lawyers advise you on the eligibility of bankruptcy and type of bankruptcy you should consider and suggest you that which type suit you best according to your circumstances.

Intellectual property lawyer:

They help you in your issues regarding property like copyright, patent, trade secret and industrial design.

Employment lawyer:

If you are running a company and you are having problem with your employee or of employee is having issues with your workplace then you should contact employment lawyer so he can advise you on legal rights according to employment contract.

Corporate lawyer:

If you own a corporate then you should hire a corporate lawyer to help you with the issues regarding your corporation, governess issues of general corporations and corporate compliance issues.

Immigration lawyer

If you have issues with immigration then you should definitely contact your immigration lawyer. They help you with immigration issues such as visas, refugee, citizenship and green cards.

Criminal lawyer:

If you or your any family member is caught or charges with the crime then you must contact criminal lawyer. They help you with issues of bailing, pleas, arrest and arraignment. They also help you with any other issue related to the criminal trial.

Medical malpractice lawyer:

Mistakes can do happen from doctors, if you are a doctor and having mistakenly misdiagnosis or done an inaccurate treatment, then medical malpractice lawyer is the one who can help you out as he is Specializes in issues with medical malpractice.

Tax lawyer:

If you are having trouble with the IRS, then tax attorney can help you as he is Specializes in local tax laws of state, federal intricacies and they can also advise you on issue related to tax.

Family lawyer:

Family lawyer will help you in issues related to divorce, child custody, prenuptial agreement and spouse battle. They help you with the whole process that lies before you.

Worker’s compensation lawyer:

If you get injured during work or if your loved one had death on the workplace due to any accident or occupational disease, worker’s compensation lawyer will help you with the navigation of issues like the extent of fault of the employer and benefit you can avail from the company.

Contract lawyer:

They help you with the issues regarding contract as they are Specializes in. Issues like if you are not sure whether you sign the contract or if someone did wrong with the contract you have already signed, attorney specialized in contractual issues will sort out the problem with their experience and expertise.

General practice lawyer:

Unlike other lawyers who are specialized in specific area, general practice lawyer deal with wide range of legal issues. Different areas of law are adopted by general practice lawyer in whom they are comfortable.

References:

  1. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/attorney-career-information-525987
  2. https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/types-of-lawyers