You might not be a lawyer, per se, but you’re probably good with numbers and reading. You know what’s going on when it comes to the law — who’s liable for a car crash, how suing someone goes, and how your company’s accounting works. However, there are many mysteries and uf simplicity about the legal world that you might not understand: what does an attorney do? What is legal malpractice? What types of law firms exist? Luckily for you, I have the answers! In this article I will give you an overview of some key facets of the legal profession in order to assist in your understanding of various professions within it.
1. IP Law:
Attorneys are often called upon to handle issues related to “intellectual property” (IP) law, which includes everything from copyrights and trademarks to patents and trade secrets. It’s important that you understand when it comes to the word “property,” because the principles applied to tangible property are not always how things work with intangible property like copyrights and patents.
2. Corporate Law:
Corporations have their own rules and regulations that you have to know if you’re going to work for a company as its lawyer, or if you’re going to be working for yourself as a lawyer-for-hire. Many corporate law issues are mundane, but some of them can be complex. For example, you need to understand the concept of “piercing the corporate veil” if you’re going to work for a company that is separate from its management, or if you’re going to set up your own company and hire employees.
3. Tax Law:
Most people think of tax law as boring, but in fact it has many facets that are interesting and complex. From the most basic issues of tax deduction and exemption (i.e. you can claim $22.50 of tax relief on your coffee purchases, but you can’t claim an entire year’s worth of parking tickets) to the most complex issues such as tax planning strategies and international taxation, tax law encompasses a great deal of knowledge that is worthwhile to know if you’re going to be a lawyer.
4. Legal Malpractice:
Even if you’ve never had a client slip on ice outside your office in the middle of the night or had your client get sued by an ex-girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse/employer because he changed his mind about your argument, you need to know about legal malpractice. You need to know who is liable and what counts as malpractice in order to avoid legal issues.
5. Lawsuits:
You should be familiar with the different types of lawsuits, how they’re actually filed, and why they’re filed. You should also understand what happens during a lawsuit — whether the plaintiff wins or loses, and why. That way you can learn from the mistakes of others and hopefully prevent a lawsuit from happening to you (or your company) in the first place.
6. Law School Quizzes:
If you’re going to be a lawyer and you’re taking the LSAT, you need to know the answers to many of these questions. You might not know them all off the top of your head, but with time and study, you’ll eventually be able to answer them with confidence. Here are some good sources for LSAT Study Materials: Kaplan
7. How the Law Works:
It’s important that you understand how the law actually works — where it comes from, who decides what it is and why it’s so important in society. This will give you a better understanding of how lawyers think as well as how they work, which is also very helpful in being a lawyer.
8. Criminal Law:
Criminal law is a very broad topic, and it encompasses everything from parking tickets to murder to tax evasion. You need to know the fundamentals of criminal law if you’re going to be a lawyer. No matter what you think about the criminal justice system, everything that happens in a court is actually governed by criminal law and there are many things that you have to know about it. Here’s my guide to understanding and preparing for criminal law: Legal101 .
9. Law Review:
Law review is an extremely useful resource for future lawyers who want a quick overview of the legal system and its systems of thought, but with little depth or understanding of how things actually function in practice. This gives you an understanding of how things work, but not necessarily a deep understanding of the system of law.
10. Law on the Internet:
The internet is a wonderful thing for learning a lot about a lot of things. It’s also useful for finding and researching legal professionals. Law is no exception — there are many resources that are available online to find out about this vast, ever-changing world. Here are some great sources for legal information on the internet: LegalZoom
Conclusion of the article:
As you can see, there is a lot to learn about what it means to be a lawyer. It’s not a simple profession, and as such, it’s important that you understand the basics of what lawyers do before you put in all the effort to become one. You don’t want to burn yourself out trying to become something that isn’t for you, but if it really is for you, and you have a passion for law and justice, then I hope this article has been helpful in your understanding of the legal system!
