“A lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns.“- Mario Puzo
There are more than 1.35 million lawyers in the United States only. Now, with this, you can sense how many lawyers would be there in the entire world. Researchers say this number has increased by 10% in the last decade.
Lawyers – Meaning
A lawyer, also known as an attorney, is a professional who practices law as a barrister-at-law, advocate, legal advisor, counsellor, consultant or attorney at law. One who works as a lawyer is supposed to practice legal theories and find out solutions to one’s problems using the legal aspects. The overall roles of the lawyer vary from state to state and country to country.
Now, when talking about which country has the highest number of lawyers, the United States is leading the race with its legal market touching $160 million market share (approximately). Out of all, 14.4% of the lawyers in the United States are certified members of the ABA (American Bar Association). Somewhere this factor helps the attorneys in the United States entitle themselves as superior in this domain.
Some other quick facts about the attorneys in the United States –
- Medical lawyers are the highest-paying lawyers in the legal profession
- More than 49% of the lawyers practice privately
- Out of 16% of lawyers having ABA certification, 4% are either inactive in legal practice or have been retired already
- Most of the high-profile lawyers in the United States earn around $2,400 hourly.
Types of lawyers
- Family lawyers – Handling family or domestic issues including legal separation, divorce, paternity, adoption, emancipation, prenuptial, child custody, postnuptial agreements, alimony is what a family attorney looks after. Further, a family lawyer can handle a criminal legal proceeding involving domestic violence, juvenile delinquency, child abuses cases, etc.
- Intellectual property lawyers – Any innovative and 100% unique invention in the field of mechanism, technology, creativity, etc. are entitled to duplicacy protection. In such circumstances, the inventor often consults an intellectual property lawyer who drafts documents regarding the invention and imposes copyright terms on it. One of the most common proceedings followed here includes – getting the invention varied and evaluated by the U.S. Copyright Office, FDA (Food and Drug Administration), and Department of Commerce.
- Car accident attorneys – As the United States witnesses the maximum number of car crashes, you can find the most reliable car accident attorneys around having knowledge-rich experience with the righteous proficiency required.
- Business lawyers – Also referred to as corporate attorneys, they are appointed to resolve business disputes while helping them maintain their legal papers, contracts, mergers, tax compliances, etc. It is the business lawyer who comes forward and handles negotiations on behalf of the business.
- Medical lawyers – Malpractice attorneys are entitled to look after medical cases. They are the first choice when accountants, government officers, doctors, lawyers are sued for violating their duties or being involved in any unethical practices.
- Tax lawyers – Tax-related issues do demand consultation and keen attention. Therefore, hiring a tax attorney is the easiest way to transfer responsibilities and get your work done. Those who plan to set up a business, estate, or have been bearing issues with the IRS, often look for a tax lawyer. Resulting, the tax lawyer looks after the legal proceedings and ligitations to offer the best legal services to the client.
- Labor lawyers – These lawyers are entitled to handle cases of discrimination and unethical act practiced at a workplace against an employee or group of people. Here, even the business owners can approach labor lawyers on negotiating the clients’ severance pay.
- Immigration lawyers – Those who apply for U.S. citizenship often need to associate with an immigration attorney guiding the applicant through the legit process. From giving sound advice to managing the deportation cases, they look after everything.
- Criminal defence lawyers – As the term suggests, criminal lawyers handle criminal cases like – theft, murder, snatching, and violence charges. Out of all, the criminal defence lawyer is the most challenging profession type where the attorney works smart enough to convince the court to let his or her client remain out of prison.
We, as a commoner, often forget that there is a profession like ‘lawyer’ until we don’t get into legal trouble or need some sound legal advice to sail through. Lawyers, aka attorneys, act as a legal helping hand to overcome legal problems or cases. From filing the right documents to getting deserving justice, lawyers prove helpful at all aspects of the legal processes. One can avail maximum leverages of associating with a legal advisor or attorney, only when consults the specialist.