The Law Blog

In the legal world, as it relates to everyday people, there are two types of case, civil cases and criminal cases. In a criminal case the legal action will be taken by the state against an individual or a company. In a civil case the action will be taken by one individual/business against another. If you need representation from a lawyer here then you will use one with relevant civil law experience.

So, for example, if you are accused of murder you will be prosecuted by the state in a criminal court case. But, if you are being sued by an individual who was injured in a car accident which was your fault then this would be a civil case and the state would not be involved. The case here would be initiated by the injured individual (the plaintiff) against you as the car driver (the defendant). Civil cases will most often result in a judgment which involves a ruling in favor of one of the sides in question and compensation may be awarded to the side that wins the case.

It is thought that our present day civil law systems originated from the legal systems of the Romans. Here, the aim was to put a legal system in place that protected the rights of individuals and that gave them the right to take action on their own behalf if they felt that they had been wronged.

Unlike a criminal lawyer a civil lawyer will not necessarily work on cases where a punishment is imposed in the traditional sense. A murderer that is found guilty in a criminal case, for example, is likely to be given jail time. The earlier case of the car accident victim making a civil case against you is more likely to result in compensation which you (or your insurance company) will have to pay to the victim if the case finds in their favor.

Some lawyers can work on both civil and criminal cases whilst others may choose to only specialize in civil legal work. A lawyer working on a civil case may well have some experience of taking cases to court but may also spend much of his/her time trying to resolve civil cases before they get to a court via mediation and dispute resolution services, for example.

The types of fees charged by civil lawyers can vary. Some, for example, will take a traditional charging route where you pay a retainer up front and then pay your lawyer’s fees when the case is done. These remaining fees are usually charged by the hour and/or on the basis of the work that the lawyer takes on on your behalf.

Nowadays, however, it is becoming increasingly common for civil lawyers to work on a contingency fee basis. In this kind of scenario the lawyer will take on your civil case for free. If you win compensation from your case then you will pay a percentage to the lawyer that you used. If you lose the case then you will not have to pay them anything.

written by Richard Banbury \\ tags: Personal Injury Lawyers

Much of the global legal system revolves around contracts, both between individuals and between businesses. A contract is an agreement between two people or between two parties. Many contracts are held to be legally binding and are based on one or more of the two people/parties in question making an undertaking or taking on an obligation to the other.

In many cases formal contracts will be undertaken in writing. It is possible, however, for verbal contracts to be made. In some cases, a verbal contract can be just as legally binding as a written one. Contracts actually make up a large part of our everyday lives. For example, if you go into a coffee shop and order a drink then you are initiating a contract to buy the drink.

In some contexts contracts can be found in all kinds of general legal areas and in others they are the sole focus of a specialist lawyer. In general terms lawyers have to deal with contracts on an everyday basis. A pre-nuptial agreement, for example, is a contract, as is a marriage and contracts are used regularly at other times such as when we buy and sell a property.

In business terms you can use a general corporate lawyer to manage your contracts or you can use a contract specialist. Using a lawyer to help you draw up a contract or to assess one that has been offered to you can be extremely useful in business. Here, your lawyer will be able to make sure that the contractual terms are legally watertight and that they protect your own best interests.

Much of the work done by corporate and contract lawyers in this field will involve contracts that have been breached or broken. If a contract that you have drawn up is not legally sure and valid then you could well find that it could be rejected by the person with whom you have the contract in the first place. This could leave you with no recourse to action if their obligations under your contract agreement fail.

Some contracts here are relatively simple. For example, if you want to buy a house you will sign a contract on that basis. Other contracts (especially business agreements) can be more complex and may also be built around a series of dependencies or contractual terms.

So, for example, if a business agrees a contract with a supplier that the supplier will deliver a certain number of products once a month for six months then the supplier is beholden to do so otherwise they will break the contract terms. But, say the supplier stops making their deliveries as they inserted a clause in the contract that they will only make deliveries on the basis that each one is paid for within 7 days of drop off and the company receiving the goods has stopped making payments. Here, the company could be seen to be breaking the contract.

If a contract is broken by one of the parties with a responsibility listed in the contract then it is possible to take legal action against them. In this instance your case may well be heard in a civil court. Here you will have to prove that they broke the terms of the contract and/or they will have to prove that they did not before a ruling can be made.

Often, however, businesses and individuals who need to take action here will go down a mediation route to try and sort out the problem without taking a case to court. This may involve a contract mediation service or simply talks between the lawyers representing both parties to see if an agreement can be made.

written by Richard Banbury \\ tags: Personal Injury Lawyers

Constitutional law is involved with the ways in which the constitution of a country impacts on or dictates its laws and legal practices. This area of law is obviously applied in countries that actually have a formal constitution (such as the USA). Countries without a formal constitution will still have some form of ‘law of the land’ that they use as their legal framework.

Due to its specialist nature constitutional law tends to be practiced by specialists in this field. The fact, however, that constitutional law applies to all areas of the law means that even a generalist lawyer in a general practice will come across constitutional law on a fairly regular basis.

In the USA the constitution itself dictates the laws of the land. So, constitutional law is all about upholding the constitutional rights of individuals within the country based on the outlines given by the constitution itself. A constitutional lawyer, therefore, may often work on cases where the constitutional rights of an individual have not been adhered to.

Specialists in constitutional law may also often become involved with lobbying to make changes to current legislation. These changes will generally only be made with the approval of the Supreme Court in the USA, the body that is most responsible for interpreting constitutional law. The fact is that constitutional law often needs to change to move with modern everyday life given that most countries’ constitutions were set up many years/centuries ago.

In the USA, however, constitutional law is based on the seven original articles of the constitution. Since the constitution was first ratified any changes made to its laws have been known as amendments. The first ten amendments to the constitution now form the Bill of Rights, a set of laws that protect the interests of individuals in the country.

In general terms a lot more amendments will be proposed than are accepted by the Supreme Court and when amendments are made they do tend to be historic ones. The 13th amendment, for example, saw the abolition of slavery. Things do not change rapidly here — there have been only 27 amendments to the constitution of the USA to date.

A specialist working in constitutional law may well find himself/herself operating in various governmental areas. Common areas where this kind of lawyer may become involved in cases include: freedom of speech and of information; the rights (and violation of these rights) of the individual and discrimination issues.

If you have these kinds of legal issues and need professional advice then it may well be advisable to talk to a specific constitutional specialist rather than a generalist lawyer. This will help you make sure that you get the best possible advice according to your case and circumstances.

Do bear in mind here that it sometimes takes specialist knowledge to read, understand and interpret the constitution. The actual interpretation of the law here can also be open to debate and can change over the years depending on the members of the Supreme Court that are sitting at any given time.

written by Richard Banbury \\ tags: Personal Injury Lawyers

A pro bono lawyer is a legal professional who is giving his or her services on a case for free with no charge to the client. The term pro bono is derived from ‘pro bono publico’ which basically means ‘for the public good’.

In the USA many national and regional legal associations will recommend that their members take on a specific number of pro bono hours each year. And, some law firms will also require that their lawyers take on a certain amount of work of this kind themselves and will encourage them to do so.

So, most lawyers will take on pro bono work for the public good. This is also a good way for them to gain experience in different cases. Many lawyers will also take on cases that are of specific interest to them (or that would useful to their skills base) on a pro bono basis.

In certain cases a lawyer can take on a case pro bono but may well find that they do receive some payment for their work later on down the line. Say, for example, a lawyer works for free on a case that results in a significant cash settlement for his/her client. In this kind of case a judge may well make a recommendation to the client that they use some of their cash settlement to pay their lawyer for their services.

Many countries also use a legal aid/help system to provide pro bono services to people in need of legal help. In most cases the help that you are given at no cost here will depend on your financial circumstances and these kinds of aid programs tend to be reserved for individuals with a particularly low income.

So, for example, if you are arrested and charged with a criminal offence but cannot afford to retain a lawyer then you may well be given a court appointed representative or a lawyer from a private firm who is retained by the state on your behalf. Or, in a civil case if you are being taken to court by your landlord and cannot afford a lawyer to represent you then you may qualify for free help if you are on a suitably low income.

Also, some areas may offer free legal help to members of the community who do not qualify on an income level but who are helped as a matter of course based on some other issue. This can (according to the area in which you live) apply to you if you are disabled, in the military or are elderly, for example.

If you need legal help but don’t think that you can afford to pay for it yourself then you may want to check out whether a pro bono lawyer can help you out. Bear in mind that you may also qualify for free legal advice on general issues from consumer groups and legal aid offices and, in some regions, local lawyers will do pro bono work on legal hotlines that you can call for free advice. These hotlines may also be able to hook you up to pro bono programs if necessary at a later stage.

written by Richard Black \\ tags: Personal Injury Lawyers

Tax lawyers are probably most often used by businesses rather than consumers although the services of a good lawyer with this kind of expertise can be useful to consumers if they are having problems with taxation authorities. But, in general terms, if a consumer needs tax advice when it comes to filing a tax return then they will generally use an accountant in the first instance.

This isn’t always enough for a business, however. Here, an accountant can help you meet your tax obligations as a company but a tax lawyer could add something extra to the mix. From a planning perspective, for example, tax lawyers can simply help your business make sure that it has the kind of structure and operating procedures that minimize the amount of tax that your business will have to pay. Your lawyer here will work to make sure that you are meeting your business tax obligations from a legal perspective but will also try and keep these obligations to the lowest possible cost.

One of the big advantages to using the services of these kinds of tax specialists is the fact that they have a deeper understanding of the kinds of business taxes that your company may be liable to pay. They can also make moves to make sure that your company reaps all available tax benefits in the most cost effective way and that it does not end up paying too much in tax.

Do bear in mind that there are different kind of taxation issues in play here and not all tax lawyers may have expertise in all areas. In some cases, for example, you may find that a different kind of specialist lawyer can give advice on tax issues as they relate to his or her field. So, an employment lawyer may also be able to advise you on the tax issues that your company needs to consider from a payroll point of view.

In some instances companies and individuals may retain a tax lawyer on a regular basis or may even employ them in house in the case of large corporations. In others you may only need to call on this kind of lawyer for advice when you are planning the structure of your business or when you have a personal problem with a taxation authority and need qualified representation.

In some cases you may also find that your lawyer here has other business qualifications such as an accounting degree. This extra experience can be worth looking for as it means that you can get the best levels of advice from all angles when it comes to taxation issues. So, a lawyer who also has a CPA qualification could be useful in this instance.

At the very least you should check that any tax lawyer that you might use has all relevant qualifications. These include a law degree and admission to any regional legal body such as a state bar. You will often also find that many lawyers in this field will have taken time to gain specific tax qualifications such as a master’s degree.

written by Richard Banbury \\ tags: Personal Injury Lawyers