This page describes different types of law. Educating yourself in a specific field of law is the major part of your career. This article summarizes major types of law practice in alphabetical order.
Animal Law
Among different types of law animal law is the practice of law relating to animals. Animal law affects most traditional areas of the law including tort, contract, criminal and constitutional law. Animal rights lawyer speak for animals and their human associates and allies. When an animal is harmed in a way that violates the law then animal rights lawyer come into practice.
Animal rights prosecutors work for:
- Animal rights organizations
- Animal custody disputes in divorce or separations
- Damages cases involving the animals
- Defending animal rights activists
- Legal status and rights of animals
- Veterinary malpractice cases
- Wrongful death or injury to a companion animal
Admiralty Law
Types of law include admiralty law also. This is also known as maritime law. Maritime law regulates disputes involving marine trade, sailors, navigation. Maritime law also covers registration and inspection of ships. International Maritime Organization issues conventions that can be enforced by coast guards.
Maritime lawyers deal in matters that are of maritime nature. However, it is not similar to the Law of the Sea that is the field of international public law. International public law involves the navigation rights. It also deals with rights relating to the minerals or coastal waters.
Bankruptcy Law
Bankruptcy lawyers work on behalf of debtors or creditors. Debtors are the individuals or businesses who owe debt and creditors are the individuals or businesses to whom debt is owed. Bankruptcy lawyers are experts in the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Most bankruptcy attorneys spend very little time in court because their main focus is on reviewing financial documents. Law students who are interested in bankruptcy law should master in the following fields:
- Bankruptcy law
- Contracts
- Corporations
- Consumer finance
- Securities
- Tax law
Business (Corporate) Law
Business law is sometimes called corporate or commercial law. Both these are regarded as same types of law. Corporate attorneys work on issues that impact businesses. Business law attorneys work for large law firms.
Corporate lawyers deal in business affairs such as small, medium, and enterprise businesses to ensure they’re operating in a way that is consistent with the law. Corporate law involves the legal aspects of the administration of corporations.
Corporate law practice areas include:
- Contracts
- Intellectual property
- Legislative compliance
- Managing and eliminating risk of liability
- Regulatory laws
Main duties of corporate lawyers include:
- Acquisitions
- Compliance with state
- Disputes between corporations
- International accords
- Internal reorganization
- Patents
- Mergers
Civil Rights Law
Civil rights law belong to the field of law that aims at individual liberties. Civil rights attorneys specialize in the protection civil rights of people. Civil rights attorneys may work for the government or for non-profit organizations. Civil rights lawyers practice on the cases that involve discrimination and unfair practices. Civil rights attorneys take the following classes and types of law in law school:
- Constitutional law
- Disability law
- Housing discrimination
- Mediation
- Race and the law
- Trial advocacy
Civil rights attorneys often work for:
- Public interest law firms
- Large law firms
- Nonprofit organizations
Clinical Negligence Law
There are different types of law and you will find some unique fields here in this article. Clinical negligence law is one of them you probably not have heard about. Clinical negligence law protects both medical patients and providers. Clinical negligence occurs when a doctor or a physician does some wrong action during the treatment of the patient.
A healthcare provider can do something wrong during operation or misdiagnose a patient. Patients who suffer this negligence can claim compensation in this regards. Suffering an injury caused by treatment is not enough proof to take action against a physician. If the claimant can establish the following two things they can get compensation:
- The treatment was a direct cause of the injury
- On the balance of probabilities, the treatment did not comply with medically acceptable standards
The compensation may include:
- Payment for the pain they have suffered
- Costs for psychological treatment
- Money for ongoing treatment needed
Criminal Law
Criminal law focuses on behaviors that are defined as illegal. This is the most common among types of law as you will encounter criminal lawyers mostly in around your environment. You will hear about crimes, crime rates, and their effects on society. Criminal law revolves around personal liberties, criminal charges, and criminal code.
Generally, the criminal law system is a complex structure of laws that poses several challenges. Criminal lawyers represent individuals who commit a crime and violate the law. Criminal law attorneys generally have large number of cases.
Criminal lawyers often face high levels of stress as they have to face aggressive personalities. Criminal attorneys generally work as prosecutors or defense attorneys. Criminal defense lawyers represent clients accused of criminal activity. The roles of a procurator and defense lawyer are separated more clearly into different professional specialties.
There are two main types of criminal law lawyers:
- Criminal defense lawyers, who represent clients accused of crimes.
- Prosecutors represent the interests of the state in prosecuting the accused.
Education law
The major focus of education law is on counseling school districts or other educational agencies. Some education lawyers may represent parents with children with governance issues. Education law attorneys work in the following areas:
- Development of educational policies
- Frauds related to tuition fees
- Personnel issues of students
- Special education law
- Student discipline
- Student residency issues
- Student expulsions from an institute
Environmental and Natural Resources Law
Environmental and natural resources law concerns regulations and conventions based in state, federal, or transnational law and the major focus is on the legal and regulatory issues relating to natural resources. Natural resource law and environment law belong to the same category of law and regarded as same types of law. Environmental lawyers often focus on cases involving the hazardous waste practice, electric power licensing, mining, and Public land use. Environmental and natural resources lawyers may work for protecting the environment. Environmental law practice areas include:
- Air and water quality
- Energy trade regulations
- Land and littoral use
- Natural resource management
- Natural gas transportation
- Oil and gas exploration and development
- Public health components
- Pollution control
Family and Juvenile Law
Family and juvenile law focuses on legal relations between individuals and their families. Family law attorneys typically work in smaller firms. Both of these types of law are in the same domain of judicial system. They help their clients in most challenging cases. Family and juvenile law practice areas include:
- Adoptions
- Civil unions
- Child abuse cases
- Child support and welfare
- Divorce
- Domestic partnerships
- Domestic abuse
- Matrimonial issues
- Legitimacy
- Prenuptial agreements
- Relationships between individuals
First Amendment Law
The major focus of first amendment law is on protecting the citizens and giving them full freedom of speech about religion and other things. This law states that they have freedom of assembly. This law covers everything from prayers in the school to the book burning and it also covers some controversial topics such as Internet pornography.
Health Law or Healthcare Law
Health law focuses on the Healthcare industry. The Healthcare industry is a rapidly growing and changing field. Healthcare attorneys provide their services to the nursing homes, medical industry, medical device manufacturing companies, and many hospitals. Health law lawyers can also represent physician groups, healthcare maintenance companies, individual doctors, medical universities, biotechnology firms, pharmaceutical companies, and others.
Health industry is one of the biggest industries in the United States. Healthcare law includes medical malpractice, abuse cases, mergers, acquisitions and much more. Health law specialists work in the following fields:
- Acquisitions and Mergers
- Biomedicine and telemedicine
- Bioethics and clinical ethics
- Biotechnology
- Health Risks management
- Medicare policy and compliance
- Public health policy
Human rights law
The basic purpose of human rights law is to help protect the rights of human beings. The basic rights of human beings may include freedom of speech, and they can range from the birth to the death of that person. Human rights are applicable to every individual regardless of their position and status in the society. This means that these laws apply equally to the poor or rich. These laws are also applicable to criminals and to those persons who have never broken the law.
This kind of law is basically father of the all types of law. Human right law focuses on the purpose that all citizens in the society be treated in an equal way and no one has precedence or preference over some other person in that particular society. Human Rights Act 1998 protects against discrimination and ensures freedom of speech.
Human law attorneys work for the individuals who are suppressed by powerful companies and even governments and States. Human law lawyers protect the rights of individuals within a society and if someone breaks or violates the rights of that individual then these lawyers stand for that particular individual. As a law student, you will study this area of legal practice at some point during your studies.
Immigration Law
Immigration law specializes in all things related to the individuals coming to the United States. Immigration law focuses on the legal issues and policies regarding immigrants. This includes visa applications, employment, green cards, and more. An immigration lawyer may work for the government, a law firm, or an organization. Immigration lawyers work for refugee and asylum seekers, as well as to individuals in the country without legal permission.
Immigration lawyers help the individuals in getting permanent or temporary and tree into a specific country in a legal way. They also help asylum seekers. Obtaining the citizenship of a country is a very tough process and immigration lawyers are wise enough to help applicants in each and every step to get the citizenship of a specific country.
When an individual violates the law and faces deportation, immigration lawyers come to rescue the individual and regulate the process.
Immigration law practice areas include the following types of law:
- Asylum law
- Administrative law
- Business immigration law
- Constitutional law
- Criminal and deportation defense
- Employment discrimination
- International human rights
- Refugee law
Intellectual Property Law
Intellectual Property law is related to authorship inventions, patents, copyrights, and creations. The basic purpose of intellectual property law is to protect the rights of inventors and authors. Intellectual property lawyers work in the domain of a Science and Arts are they are linked to a particular industry to save the tangible and intangible creations, inventions, logos, trademarks, and symbols.
Trademark or copyright attorneys manage the legal aspects of contracts, visual identity, brand names, or slogans. Most common intellectual properties are patents, and trademarks. Intellectual property law focuses on the protection of following things:
- Discoveries
- Creations
- Copyrights
- Trademarks
- Identifying marks
- Patents
Intellectual property lawyers usually specialize in the following areas and types of law:
- Patent law
- Copyright law
- International trade negotiations
Copyright law governs literary and artistic works.
Trademark law governs brand names, trademarks, and logos.
Patent law governs inventions and discoveries.
International Law
International Law comprises public international law and private international law. Public international law works with dealings between sovereign nations, international institutions, and public interest groups. Private international law work in finance and trade divisions of multinational corporations such as law firms, corporations, banks, or telecommunications firms. In general, International law focuses on the legal implications of tourism, permanent residence, and cross border travels.
Labor & Employment Law
Basically labor law and employment belong to the same class so they are regarded as similar types of law. Labor law is also known as employment law. Employment law is related to workers and their employers. Labor law attorneys represent individual clients, a union, a government regulatory agency, or an employer. There is a difference between labor and employment laws. Labor Law focuses on unions and employee rights bargaining while the basic focus of employment law is on the regulations or mandates between employers and employees.
Generally speaking, employment and labor law focus on the legal rights of workers and their employers.
Employment and labor law practice areas include:
- Wage disputes
- Unlawful terminations
- Collective bargaining and unions
- Child labor
- Discrimination based on gender, disability, or age.
- Relations between workers and their employers
- Workplace safety
- Sexual harassment issues
- Wages and compensation matters
Media Law
Media law deals with publishing and censorship matters. It also covers the tort of defamation and privacy issues. Media law is a broad area of law which covers issues such as copyright and ownership, broadcasting, publishing, and digital media. Media law regulates what can be published and broadcast.
Municipal Law
Municipal Law includes zoning, property taxes, and educational policies in a particular municipality. Most municipal lawyers who handle municipal law cases are hired by the municipalities themselves. Municipal Law practice areas include:
- Land use law
- Property taxes
- Real estate
- Small business law
- Zoning
Military Law
Military law involves legal things that are related to military and armed forces. Legal experts in this field are typically members of the armed forces. Military law has been based on the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Personal Injury Law
When a person intentionally or unintentionally does a wrong thing to some other person that affects that individual psychologically, emotionally, or physically then personal injury law comes to help the person that is affected. Experts in the field are well-versed in torts law.
Personal injury lawyers are free and cooperating with their clients in the courtroom and they discuss sensitive issues with their clients. Personal injury lawyers work on cases that involve medical malpractice, accidents, wrongful death, personal injury, or workplace injury. Personal injury lawyers spend their whole day in meetings with their clients or witnesses. They review medical documents and consult medical doctors and physicians to prepare for the cases of their clients.
Real Estate Law
Real Estate Law involves legal matters that are related to construction sites, development, landlord disputes, and tenant rights. Real estate attorneys work in Planning and development offices. The major focus of real estate law is contractual issues around land and property. Real estate law practice areas include:
- Building ownership disputes
- Compliance with local, state, or national regulations
- Rights to possess and use land or buildings
- Real estate sale and purchase
- Real estate development
- Landlord-tenant disputes
Sports and Entertainment Law
Sports law focuses on the legal issues of athletes. These types of law are related to the fun and entertainment areas. Sports and entertainment lawyers work with athletes, donors, colleges, and universities. Entertainment law practice areas include employment law, royalties, and intellectual property law. While sports law practice areas include contract and antitrust issues. Sports lawyers serve as agents to individual players or represent team owners. They deal in all aspects of both amateur and professional sports.
Tax Law
Tax law covers income taxes, capital gains taxes, and tax evasion and deals with domestic and international transactions. Tax laws are regulated by the Internal Revenue Service.
Tax law lawyers are always busier in continuous education than in many other fields of law because of the complexity of fiscal policy. The local, state, and federal codes change frequently so that is also the main cause of burden for tax lawyers and they need to get them updated about new changes.
Tort Law
Tort law allows individuals to claim compensation from those individuals who did something wrong to them or who were the cause of some damage. A tort occurs when someone commits a wrongful act against another individual. Tort law makes sure that an individual may return back in the position he/she was in before the wrong was committed against them.
So, this was the basic article related to types of law. It has described and answered quick answers to the questions that are related to the different fields of law and judicial system.