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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Attorney:
This article relates to the profession as practiced in the United States. For a more general discussion, see Lawyer. For discussion of powers granted to an Attorney-in-Fact, see Power of attorney.
A lawyer in the United States is technically called an attorney at law or an attorney-at-law. In some states a lawyer is called an attorney and counsellor at law (or attorney and counselor at law).
The American legal system has a united (or fused) legal profession, and does not draw a distinction between lawyers who plead in court and those who do not. Many other common law jurisdictions, as well as the civil law jurisdictions, have a separation, such as the solicitor and barrister/advocate split in the United Kingdom and the advocate/civil law notary split in France. There is also no delegation of routine work to notaries public.

Broadly speaking, an "attorney" is one who acts on behalf of another person in some capacity. For example, an "attorney-in-fact" is a kind of agent who acts on behalf of another person, typically with respect to business, property, or personal matters, and who generally does not have to have a particular license from the government. By contrast an attorney-at-law is a lawyer -- a person trained and licensed to practice law -- to represent clients in legal matters (both in and out of court) and to give legal advice. In the United States, the term "attorney" as used in every day speech usually refers to a lawyer.
In common-law jurisdictions outside the United States, e.g., England, Canada, Australia, �attorney� is incorrect as a general term, and "lawyer" is used instead. However, in these areas, the specific terms �crown attorney�, �power of attorney�, and �Attorney General� are used.
In earlier times, some states, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court, maintained a divided legal profession, as can still be found in the United Kingdom, consisting of attorneys (solicitors) and counsellors (barristers). In deference to this practice, when an Attorney-at-Law is admitted to practice in some states, his or her certificate of admission bears the title Attorney and Counsellor-at-Law in recognition of his inheritance of both of these roles.
Some attorneys use the post-nominal "Esq.", as the abbreviated form of the word Esquire.

Once admitted to practice by the highest court of a state (a function sometimes administered by the state's bar association), an American attorney may file legal pleadings and argue cases in any court in that state (except federal courts, which usually require a separate admission), provide legal advice to clients, and draft important legal documents (such as wills, trusts, deeds, and contracts). American attorneys use the term lawyering to refer to the art of practicing law.
In some states, real estate closings may be performed only by attorneys, even though the attorney's role in a closing may involve primarily notarization of documents and disbursement of settlement funds through an escrow account.
Practicing law can be broadly generalized as:
Interviewing the client and identifying what is their legal matter or dispute;
Identifying the discrete legal and factual issues embedded within the client's larger problem;
Researching systematically each issue;
Deriving a solution that resolves some, if not all of the issues;
Executing it through specific tasks like drafting a contract or filing a motion with a court.
Most academic legal training is directed to identifying legal issues, researching facts and law, and arguing both the facts and law in favor of either side in any case.

Contrary to the media image of attorneys, much legal work requires hours of in-depth research in a law library or in an electronic database like Westlaw or LexisNexis. Few television programs and movies accurately portray the long nights surrounded by a pile of books or printouts which form the core of the occupational life of many attorneys. One occasional exception is the television program Law & Order, which sometimes shows the main characters researching at a computer late into the night, always using Westlaw, due to a contract between Westlaw and the show's producers.
Movies and television also do not show the stressful "juggling" aspect of litigation, in that most litigators have many cases in progress at any given time. Each case has deadlines that must be carefully monitored, and court dates which one must not forget to attend. The other side in any case can serve additional motions that will further complicate things. Repeated failures to attend to details can lead to malpractice suits or disbarment.
In litigation, attorneys spend much time discovering the facts of the case to develop a "theory of the case" that integrates facts and law in a way most favorable to their client. The discovery phase of a case sometimes turns into an unpleasant war of attrition over petty technicalities. Some attorneys believe approximately 50% to 70% of all funds spent on legal services in the U.S. cover discovery costs.
In addition, there are a large number of attorneys whose practice specializes in activities that never involve them in litigation, such as writing legal opinions, advising clients, drafting contracts, preparing tax strategies, and preparing and prosecuting filings with government agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Patent and Trademark Office. It is not rare for such attorneys never to appear in court, and rarely or never to wear a suit or a tie, though this is all but absent in media depicitions of attorneys.
While being an attorney is often portrayed as a glamorous and influential profession, real attorneys poll fairly low in terms of job satisfaction, and have been reported to have the highest rates of any career of alcoholism, depression, divorce, and suicide.

There are a fair number of licensed attorneys that are un- or underemployed, or float from one temporary assignment to another, doing nothing but pouring through the discovery process. The relatively new phenomenon of many lawyers being un- or underemployed or paid at relatively low wages is largely a consequence of changes actively pursued, including by the American Bar Association, starting in the 1960s. Many in the profession had determined that legal services would remain difficult or impossible to attain for the less well-off unless the supply of lawyers was increased relative to the demand for legal services. In sharp contrast with the medical profession and medical schools, the ABA has encouraged the creation and accreditation of new law schools since that time. As a result, the number of lawyers relative to the total population has more than doubled in the United States since 1970, from about one lawyer per 700 people to about one lawyer per 300 people, with the ratio continuing to rise. At the same time, the ABA and other organizations have fostered the rise of pro bono work, public service lawyering, and community lawyering, to try to extend the availability of legal services to all Americans. Government funding for public legal services at the federal and state levels has become significant. Still, the ABA estimated in 2000 that still only about one third of the total demand for legal services in the United States was being met. At the same time, the demand for high-paying legal services, particularly by large corporations, which was already being well met before the dramatic expansion of the lawyer population, has grown much less quickly than the supply of lawyers. Yet many lawyers are still struggling to find jobs. The result has been a much larger disparity in lawyer compensation.

Most American attorneys are specialized in one field or another. Often dichotomies are drawn between different types of attorneys, but these are neither fixed nor formal lines. Examples include:
Litigators (who sue and defend in court) v. transactional attorneys (who draft and advise clients, and rarely go to court)
Attorneys in private practice and small firms (who can't afford to litigate every little issue) v. big firms (who can)
Plaintiffs' attorneys (individual attorneys and small firms who represent individuals on contingent fee agreements) v. defendants' attorneys (big firms billing large corporations by the hour)
Trial attorneys (who argue the facts, such as Johnnie Cochran) v. appellate attorneys (who argue the law, such as David Boies)
Outside counsel (law firms) v. in-house counsel (corporate legal department)
Despite these descriptions, bar associations typically discourage claims for specialty in particular areas of law. Some legal specialty professional organizations issue certificates indicating that the holder has met some extra qualification in a particular field. However, there are only two legal specialties that are legally recognized. These are in patent law and admiralty law. Specialization in patent law is administered by the Office of Enrollment and Discipline of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), which imposes stringent requirements for applicants to become registered as patent attorneys or patent agents.
About half of American attorneys work solo or in small firms. See law firm. There are also many midsize firms, with anywhere from 50 to 200 attorneys, and since the 1970s, some law firms have merged to form giant "megafirms" with 1,000 attorneys or more.

An American attorney licensed in each applicable court may in a few cases control and argue his or her case at each level of the judiciary through its entire lifecycle. A notable example of this is the Brown v. Board of Education litigation, where the same trial team handled the case from start to finish at the U.S. Supreme Court. However, cases which advance to the appellate level, particularly to the U.S. Supreme Court, are often re-assigned to experienced appellate practitioners or firms.

See main article at Education of Lawyers in the United States
Before taking the bar exam, nearly all American lawyers must first attend law school for at least three years.
The degree earned by prospective attorneys in the United States is generally a Juris Doctor or Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.). The JD degree is equivalent to a Doctor of Philosopy in law and replaced the older LL.B. degrees. Colleges such as Harvard began requiring an undergraduate education as far back as 1896. Worldwide within the legal profession, practising lawyers are typically called "Mr." or "Ms./Mrs./Ms./Miss," and not "Doctor" This is a convention of the courts, of litigation and of the legal profession generally. Many law schools now have masters degree programs which award the LL.M. degree.
Many foreign educated attorneys who have LL.B. degrees come to the United States and obtain an LL.M. degree and then take the bar exam in New York or California, which allows LLM'd foreign attorneys to sit for the test.
Louisiana State University in the U.S. now offers a joint J.D. (Juris Doctor) / B.C.L. (Bachelor of Civil Law) over 7 semesters (instead of its previous 6-semester program for the J.D. alone) in recognition of the increased Louisiana civil law component of the new program.
The highest law degree obtainable in the United States is the S.J.D., or Scientum Juris Doctor, literally "doctor of juridical science". This degree is also known by the abbreviation J.S.D. at some U.S. schools, e.g. NYU Law School and Columbia Law School. The degree should not be confused with the "doctor of laws" degree, or LL.D., which is usually, but not always, awarded for honorary purposes.
The S.J.D. or J.S.D. degree is very rarely awarded, and is generally only sought by attorneys holding exceptional credentials and a desire to enter legal academia. The degree is generally only offered at the very top law schools, which typically accept only 4 or 5 students into their program each year. Admission is limited to those who have achieved their J.D. and LL.M. degrees with distinction. Successful applicants usually have already published significant scholarly legal articles in their proposed area of study, and many have legal teaching experience prior to entering the program.

Some courts allow law students to act as "certified student attorneys" after the satisfactory completion of their first year of law school and the completion of particular second- and third-year courses with subjects such as evidence. Many states allow students to argue in front of a court as a certified legal intern (CLI), provided they meet certain prerequisites, such as requiring the student to have completed at least half of their law education, taken or is taking the law school's ethics class, and they are under the supervision of a qualified and licensed attorney. This concept was somewhat misrepresented in the movie Legally Blonde, where the protagonist Elle argues before a jury. Although Elle was under the supervision of an attorney, no state would allow a student still completing the first year of law to argue a case in court.

In Illinois a student currently in good standing who has earned credits that represent at least three-fifths of the credits required for graduation may be eligible for a 711 license. A JD graduate of the College of Law may also qualify for a 711 license if s/he (1) has not yet had an opportunity to take the first Bar examination scheduled after s/he graduates, or (2) has taken the Bar exam but has not received the results, or (3) has taken and passed the Bar examination but has not yet been sworn in as a member of the Illinois bar.

711 licenses are not available for students who work for private law firms. The 711 license is available for work with (1) a legal aid bureau, legal assistance program, organization or clinic chartered by the State of Illinois or approved by a law school approved by the American Bar Association. (2) the Office of the Public Defender, or (3) a law office of the State or any of its subdivisions.

A 711 license allows a student to: (1) Counsel with clients, negotiate in the settlement of claims, and engage in the preparation and drafting of legal instruments. (2) Appear in the trial courts and administrative tribunals subject to the following qualifications: (i) Appearances, pleadings, motions, and other documents to be filed with the court may be prepared by the student or graduate and may be signed by him with the accompanying designation "Senior Law Student" or "Law Graduate" but must also be signed by the supervising member of the bar. (ii) In criminal cases, in which the penalty may be imprisonment, in proceedings challenging sentences of imprisonment, and in civil or criminal contempt proceedings, the student or graduate may participate in pretrial, trial, and posttrial proceedings as an assistant of the supervising member of the bar, who shall be present and responsible for the conduct of the proceedings. (iii) In all other civil and criminal cases the student or graduate may conduct all pretrial, trial, and posttrial proceedings, and the supervising member of the bar need not be present. (3) He/She may prepare briefs, excerpts from the record, abstracts, and other documents filed in courts of review of the State, which may set forth the name of the student or graduate with the accompanying designation "Senior Law Student" or "Law Graduate" but must be filed in the name of the supervising member of the bar.

Unlicensed practice of law
Some states provide criminal penalties for (1) falsely holding oneself out to the public as a lawyer, and (2) the unauthorized practice of law by a non-lawyer.
A person who has a J.D. degree but is not admitted to any bar is not a lawyer, and cannot legally engage in the practice of law. In most states, even the practice of law by an "out-of-state" lawyer is considered the unauthorized practice of law within that state. Exceptions are sometimes made when the out-of-state lawyer is permitted temporarily to practice within the state pro hac vice or in some cases as in-house counsel for corporations.
In addition, a few areas of law, such as patent law, are mandated by the U.S. Constitution to be strictly under federal jurisdiction. In this case, state courts and bar associations are not allowed to restrict the practice of that field of law, and a patent attorney may freely advise clients as to patent matters anywhere in the jurisdiction of the United States with impunity, without regard to state court or bar association rules. Furthermore, prior to November 15, 1938, individuals could become registered as �patent attorneys� with the PTO without ever passing a state bar exam or going to law school. That status was grandfathered for patent attorneys registered prior to that date. This represents a holdover to the traditional meaning of the term �attorney� as �agent� or �attorney-in-fact�. There are still some living patent attorneys who became registered as patent attorneys before that date, as far back as 1934. Today, a non-lawyer can take and pass the Patent Bar, but he or she would be considered a patent agent.
In some jurisdictions, the definition of the practice of law is quite strict; persons have been successfully prosecuted for publishing do-it-yourself will forms and for representing special education children in federal proceedings as specifically allowed by federal law.
Paradoxically, some jurisdictions will allow a non-attorney to sit as a judge, usually in lower courts or in hearings by governmental agencies, even though a non-attorney may not practice before these same courts. This extends to the U.S. Constitution itself, which does not mention any requirement that a U.S. Supreme Court justice or other federal judge be a lawyer, although it appears that no non-lawyer has ever been appointed as a federal judge.

American attorneys' attire
Unlike their counterparts in other common law jurisdictions, American attorneys are not required to wear wigs, robes or any other items of court dress when they appear in court. They are expected to wear contemporary business suits.
The one exception is the United States Solicitor General, who traditionally argues before the U.S. Supreme Court in 19th-century attire, including a "morning coat" with tails.
Attorneys in the United States do not usually have to adhere to a strict color code garb and can argue their cases wearing business suits. However, judges in the United States and Canada have occasionally been reported, even very recently, to order that a lawyer is not dressed appropriately and must return at a later date in proper attire � and to issue the lawyer a fine equivalent to if the lawyer had failed to show up for the hearing.
Attorneys in India appearing in all Courts have to adhere to a strict color code garb--usually a dark colored trouser, white shirt, band, black coat and gowns.

Alternatives to the practice of law
Because an accredited legal education generally provides a strong understanding of not only the substance of the law, but also an advanced analytical approach to the use and ramifications of the law, many professions, other than the practice of law, promote or require those with legal educations. As a result of overcrowding in the legal profession, the desire to achieve better work/life balance, and disenchantment with the legal profession, many attorneys are leaving the Bar to pursue these other professions that take advantage of the attorney's legal education. In some instances, graduates of law school who either cannot be admitted or who decide not to bother to be admitted to a state bar, enter these various professions.
Alternative careers that seek legally educated employees include:
Work with the government as a policy analyst or a legislative drafter (the latter is sometimes classified as a 'policy analyst' and sometimes as a 'lawyer');
Work for a publisher of a legal information publication;
Work in banking, finance, real estate, insurance;
Work in law enforcement.
In these fields, law degrees are useful (and sometimes mandatory, such as in the case of policy analysts and legislative drafters) qualifications for a job.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Law:

Law (from the late Old English lagu of probable North Germanic origin) in politics and jurisprudence, is a set of rules or norms of conduct which mandate, proscribe or permit specified relationships among people and organizations, intended to provide methods for ensuring the impartial treatment of such people, and provide punishments of/for those who do not follow the established rules of conduct.
Law is typically administered through a system of courts in which judges hear disputes between parties, and apply a set of rules in order to provide an outcome that is just and fair. The manner in which law is administered is known as a legal system, which typically has developed through tradition in each country.
Most countries rely upon the police to enforce the law. Police officers most often, must be professionally trained in law enforcement before they are permitted to act under the color of law, to issue legal warnings and citations, execute search or other legal warrants and to make arrests.
Legal practitioners, most often, must be professionally trained in the law before they are permitted to advocate for a party in a court of law, draft legal documents, or give legal advice.
The stela of King Hammurabi depicts the god Shamash revealing a code of laws to the king.Contents [hide]
1 Legal traditions
1.1 Civil law
1.2 Common law
1.3 Customary law
1.4 Religious law
2 Bodies of law
2.1 Private law
2.2 Public law
2.3 Procedural law
2.4 International law
3 Philosophy of law
4 Anthropology of law
5 History
6 Practice of law
7 See also
8 Further reading
9 External links

Legal traditions
There are generally four broad legal traditions that are practiced in the world today.

Civil law
The civil law system is a codified law that sets out a comprehensive system of rules that are applied and interpreted by judges. It is by and large the most commonly practiced system of law in the world, with almost 60% of the world's population living in a country ruled on the civil law system.
The most important difference to common law is that normally, only legislative enactments are considered to be legally binding, but not precedent cases, unless a similar matter has been decided upon by a superior court. However, as a practical matter, courts normally follow their previous decisions. Furthermore, in some civil law systems (e.g. in Germany), the writings of legal scholars have considerable influence on the courts.
In most jurisdictions the core areas of private law are codified in the form of a civil code, but in some, such as Scotland they remain uncodified. The civil law system has its origins in Roman law, which was adopted by scholars and courts from the late middle ages onwards. Most modern systems go back to the 19th century codification movement. The civil codes of many countries, particularly former French and Spanish colonies closely trail the Code Napol�on in some fashion. However, this is not true for most Central and Eastern European, Scandinavian and East Asian countries. Notably, the German BGB was developed from Roman law with reference to German legal tradition and was a decisive influence to the following civil codes in other countries.
The importance of the Code Napol�on should also not be overemphasized as it covers only the core areas of private law, while other codes and statutes govern fields such as corporate law, administrative law, tax law and constitutional law.

Common law
Main article: common law
The common law is an Anglo-Saxon legal tradition, based on judicial decisions that create binding precedent. The common law system is currently in practice in Ireland, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada (excluding Quebec), and the United States (although Louisiana uses both common law and Napoleonic civil law). In addition to these countries, several others have adapted the common law system into a mixed system. For example, Pakistan, India and Nigeria operate largely on a common law system, but incorporate a good deal of customary law and religious law.

Customary law
Customary law are systems of law that have evolved largely on their own within a given country and have been adapted to meet the needs of the particular culture. Note that customary law may also be relevant within jurisdictions following another legal tradition in fields or subfields of law where no legislative enactment exists. For example, in Austria, scholars of private law often claim that customary law continues to exist, whereas public law scholars dispute this claim. In any case, it is difficult to find practically relevant examples.

Religious law
Main article: religious law
Many countries base their system of law on religious tenets. The most dominant system of this form of law is the Sharia, or Islamic law.

Jewish law or (Halakha), which is followed by Orthodox and Conservative Jews (in substantially different forms) deals with both ecclesiastical relations as well as civil law. However unlike Sharia there is currently no country that is fully governed by Halakha.
On a smaller level there are still regions of the world that practice canon law, which is followed by Catholics and Anglicans, and a similar legal system is used by the Eastern Orthodox Church. However, modern-day Christian canon law copes almost solely with ecclesiastical relations, unlike Sharia, which relates also to civil law (like property rights, contracts, partnerships and covering damages) and administrative law.

Bodies of law
In the broadest sense, bodies of law can be subdivided on the basis of who the parties to an action are. It is frequent that practiced fields of law overlap into several of these bodies of law.

Private law
The area of private law in a legal system concerns law that oversees disputes between private (non-state) persons. This area is, to a large extent, the most comprehensive area of law, dealing with all non-criminal harm one person does to another. Private law may be referred to as civil law, but is not to be confused with the system of civilian law predominant in many nations.

Private International Law is the extension of private law to disputes between private persons across jurisdictions. It covers both commercial contracts such as bills of lading (for shipping) and individuals' rights, e.g. to succession of property. Important elements of private international law remain uncodified in treaty provision (e.g. lex situs - the proper place of ownership of property) but are commonly recognised across countries and so remain customary law.
Where the interpretation of private international law differs between jurisdictions, there is a Conflict of Laws.

Public law
The area of public law, in a general sense, is the law in a given legal system that concerns the legal organisation of the various branches of government and institutions of state, as well as disputes between the government and private individuals residing within the country. The state can bring actions against people for criminal acts, as well as breach of regulatory laws. Public law can be divided into three sub-categories; Administrative, Constitutional and Criminal law.
Equally, individuals can bring actions against the government for harm it has done. This includes grounds on the basis of a breach of regulations, legislation on matters beyond their competence, or violation of an individual's rights. These last two points are often protected under a country's constitution.

Procedural law
Procedural law concerns the areas of law that regulates the legal process. This includes who can have access to the court system, how complaints are submitted, and what the rights of the parties involved are. Procedural law is often known as "adjective" law as it is the law that concerns how other laws are to be applied. Typically, this is broadly covered by a government�s civil and criminal procedure rules. But this equally includes the law of evidence which determines what means are used to prove facts, as well as the law regarding remedies.

International law
International law governs the relations between states, or between citizens of different states, or international organizations. Its two primary sources are customary law and treaties.

Philosophy of law
Philosophy of law is a branch of philosophy and jurisprudence which studies basic questions about law and legal systems, such as "What is the law?", "What are the criteria for legal validity?", "What is the relationship between law and morality?" and many other similar questions.

In the Western tradition there are several schools of thought on the philosophical basis of law. First, there is natural law, which attempts to describe law as an inherent quality in humans that is derived from nature. Second, there is the positivism which believes that law is a purely human-made construct that society uses to maintain social order. Third, there is legal realism which believes that law is an arbitrary set of rules that are largely established through the tastes and preferences of judges. Legal interpretivism is a contemporary theory of law different from positivism and natural law.

Anthropology of law
Law has an anthropological dimension. It has been recognized from Montesquieu to the present that law is shaped by the kind of society in which it is practised. One continuum into which various societies can be placed contrasts the "culture of law" with the "culture of honour". In order to have a culture of law, people must dwell in a society where a government exists whose authority is both hard to evade and generally recognised as legitimate. People take their grievances before the government and its agents, who arbitrate disputes and enforce penalties. This behaviour is contrasted with the culture of honour, where respect for persons and groups stems from fear of the revenge they may exact if their person, property, or prerogatives are not respected.

Cultures of law must be maintained. They can be eroded by declining respect for the law, achieved either by weak government unable to wield its authority, or by burdensome restrictions that attempt to forbid behaviour prevalent in the culture or in some subculture of the society. When a culture of law declines, there is a possibility that a culture of honour will arise in its place.

The distinction between cultures of law and cultures of honour is anthropological; it does not directly concern philosophy of law or an internal viewpoint of law. In cultures of honour, most people will agree that they have a law. For most purposes, legal philosophers will also call their rules "law".

History
Please improve and expand this section. There may be comments on what is required on the requests for expansion page or on this article's talk page.

Practice of law
Practice of law is typically overseen by either a government organization or independent regulating body such as a bar association or barrister society. To practice law, the regulating body must certify the practitioner. This usually entails a two or three-year program at a university faculty of law or a law school, which earns the student either an LLB or a JD degree. This course of study is followed by an entrance examination (e.g. bar admission). Advanced law degrees are also often pursued, though they are academic degrees and are not required for the practice of law. These include a Masters of Law (LLM), a Master of Legal Studies (MLS), and a Doctor of the Science of Law (JSD).
Once accredited, a legal practitioner will often work in a law firm, for a government, as internal counsel at a private corporation, or even as a sole practitioner. Another option is to become a legal researcher who provides on-demand legal research through a commercial service or on a freelance basis. Many people trained in law put their skills to use outside the legal field entirely.
A significant component to the practice of law in the common law tradition involves legal research in order to determine the current state of the law. This usually entails exploring case reporters, legal periodicals and legislation. Law practice also involves drafting documents such as court pleadings, persuasive briefs, contracts, or wills and trusts. Negotiation and dispute resolution skills are also important parts of legal practice, depending on the field.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lawyer:
A lawyer is a person qualified to give legal advice who advises clients in legal matters and represents them in courts of law and in other forms of dispute resolution.

Law is a theoretical and abstract discipline, and working as a lawyer represents the "practical" application of legal theory and knowledge to solve real problems or to advance the interests of those who retain (i.e., hire) lawyers for legal services.

The role of the lawyer varies significantly across legal jurisdictions, and therefore can be treated here in only the most general terms. More information is available in country-specific articles (see below).
1 Responsibilities
1.1 Oral argument in the courts
1.2 Research and drafting of court papers
1.3 Practice before administrative courts
1.4 Client intake and counseling (with regard to pending litigation)
1.5 Legal advice (with regard to all legal matters)
1.6 Protecting intellectual property
1.7 Negotiating and drafting contracts
1.8 Conveyancing
1.9 Carrying out the intent of the deceased
1.10 Pro bono or legal aid services
1.11 Prosecution of criminal suspects
2 Education
2.1 Earning the right to practice law
3 Career structure
3.1 Common law/civil law
3.2 Specialization
4 Professional associations and regulation
4.1 Mandatory licensing and membership in professional organizations
4.2 Who regulates lawyers
4.3 Voluntary associations of lawyers
5 Criticism of lawyers
6 More information by country
6.1 Commonwealth countries
6.2 United States
7 See also
8 External links
8.1 United States
9 References

Responsibilities
Many jurisdictions, like England, have traditionally divided their legal professions into barristers and solicitors (known as advocates and procurators, respectively, in some civil law countries).[1][2][3]
In some civil law countries, there has been a tradition of giving many legal tasks to a variety of civil law notaries, clerks, and scriveners.[4] These countries do not have "lawyers" in the American sense, insofar as that term refers to a single type of general-purpose legal services provider;[5] rather, their legal professions consist of a large number of law-trained persons, known as jurists, of which only some are advocates who are licensed to practice in the courts.[6][7]

In contrast, several other countries that began with a divided profession have since fused or united their legal profession into a single type of lawyer.[8][9][10][11] In such countries, a lawyer is usually permitted to carry out all or nearly all the responsibilities listed below.

Oral argument in the courts
The classic public image of a lawyer is of a polished, well-dressed advocate who smoothly argues a client's case before a judge or jury in a court of law. This is the traditional province of the barrister.
However, the boundary between barristers and solicitors has gradually evolved over time. For example, in England, the barrister monopoly covers only appellate courts, and barristers must compete directly with solicitors in many trial courts.[12]
In some countries, litigants have the option (though not recommended) of arguing pro se, or on their own behalf, and it is common for litigants to appear unrepresented before certain courts like small claims courts. In others, like Venezuela, no one may appear before a judge unless represented by a lawyer.[13]

Research and drafting of court papers
In most legal systems, lawyers are expected to brief a court in writing on the issue in a case before the issue can be orally argued. They may have to perform extensive research into relevant facts and law.
In England, a solicitor gets the facts of the case from the client and briefs a barrister in writing. The barrister then researches, drafts, and files the necessary court pleadings, and orally argues the case.[14]
In Spain, the procurator merely signs and presents the papers to the court, but it is the advocate who drafts the papers and argues the case.[15]

In some countries, like Japan, a scrivener or clerk may fill out court forms and draft simple papers for laypersons who cannot afford or do not need attorneys, and advise them on how to manage and argue their own cases.[16]

Practice before administrative courts
In most countries, administrative courts are informal bodies. In a few countries, there is a special category of jurists with a monopoly over this form of advocacy; thus, France has its conseil juridiques. [17] In other countries, like the United States, lawyers have actually been barred by statute from certain types of administrative hearings in order to preserve their informality.[18]

Client intake and counseling (with regard to pending litigation)
Before a lawyer can accept a client's case, he or she must interview the client and determine whether it is worth taking. The lawyer must also stay in regular contact with the client and advise them about the case's status and possible outcome.
In England, only solicitors were traditionally in direct contact with the client.[19] The solicitor retained a barrister if one was necessary and acted as an intermediary between the barrister and the client.

Legal advice (with regard to all legal matters)
Legal advice is the application of abstract principles of law to the concrete facts of the client's case in order to advise the client about what they should do next. In many countries, only a properly licensed lawyer may provide legal advice to clients for good consideration, even if no lawsuit is contemplated or is in progress. [20][21][22]Therefore, even conveyancers and corporate in-house counsel must first get a license to practice, though they may actually spend very little of their careers in court.

In other countries, jurists who hold law degrees are allowed to provide legal advice to individuals or to corporations, and it is irrelevant if they lack a license and cannot appear in court.[23][24] Sometimes civil law notaries are allowed to give legal advice, as in Belgium.[25] In many countries, non-jurist accountants may provide what is technically legal advice in tax and accounting matters.[26]

Protecting intellectual property
In virtually all countries, patents, trademarks, copyrights and other forms of intellectual property must be formally registered with a government agency in order to be protected by the law. The division of such work among lawyers, licensed non-lawyer jurists/agents, and ordinary clerks or scriveners varies greatly from one country to the next.[27]

Negotiating and drafting contracts
In some countries, the negotiating and drafting of contracts is considered to be similar to the provision of legal advice, so that it is subject to the licensing requirement explained above.[28] In others, jurists or notaries may negotiate or draft contracts.[29]

Conveyancing
Conveyancing is the drafting of the documents necessary for the transfer of real property, such as deeds and mortgages. In some jurisdictions, all real estate transactions must be carried out by a lawyer (or a solicitor where that distinction still exists).[30]Such a monopoly is quite valuable from the lawyer's point of view; historically, conveyancing accounted for about half of English solicitors' income (though this has since changed),[31] and a 1978 study showed that conveyancing "accounts for as much as 80 percent of solicitor-client contact in New South Wales."[32] In others, the use of a lawyer is optional and banks, title companies, or realtors may be used instead.[33] In some civil law jurisdictions, real estate transactions are handled by civil law notaries.[34]

Carrying out the intent of the deceased
In many countries, lawyers have a monopoly on the drafting of wills, trusts, and any other documents that ensure the efficient disposition of a person's property after death. In some civil law countries this responsibility is handled by civil law notaries. [35]

In the United States, the estates of the deceased must be administered by a court through probate, and American lawyers have a profitable monopoly over probate law.[36]

Pro bono or legal aid services
Lawyers are generally subject to some kind of official recommendation that they voluntarily provide a certain number of hours of free pro bono services to the poor each year.
In some countries, there are legal aid lawyers who specialize in providing legal services to the poor, disadvantaged, and indigent.[37][38]France and Spain even have formal fee structures by which lawyers are compensated by the government for legal aid cases on a per-case basis.[39] In others, legal aid specialists are practically nonexistent. This may be because nonlawyers are allowed to provide such services, as in Norway,[40] or because mandatory fee structures have enabled widespread implementation of affordable legal expense insurance, as in Germany.[41] In Italy, trade unions and political parties provide what can be characterized as legal aid services.[42]

Prosecution of criminal suspects
In many civil law countries, prosecutors are trained and employed as part of the judiciary; they are law-trained jurists, but may not necessarily be lawyers in the sense that the word is used in the common law world.[43] In common law countries, prosecutors are usually lawyers holding regular licenses who simply happen to work for the government office that files criminal charges against suspects.

Education
At the universities of most countries, law is taught by a faculty of law, which is a department of a university's general undergraduate college. Law students in those countries pursue a Bachelor of Laws degree. In some countries it is common or even required for students to earn another bachelor's degree at the same time. Nor is the LL.B. the sole obstacle; it is often followed by a series of advanced examinations, apprenticeships, and additional coursework at special government institutes.[44]

In a few countries, particularly the United States, law is primarily taught at law schools. In the United States and countries following the American model, (such as Canada with the exception of the province of Quebec) law schools are graduate/professional schools where a bachelor's degree is a prerequisite for admission. Most law schools are part of universities but a few are independent institutions. Law schools award graduating students with a J.D. (Doctor of Jurisprudence) as the standard law degree, and many offer post-doctoral law degrees such as the LL.M. (Legum Magister/Master of Laws), or the S.J.D. (Doctor of the Science of Law) for students interested in furthering their knowledge and credentials in a specific area of law.

The methods and quality of legal education vary widely. Some countries require extensive clinical training in the form of apprenticeships or special clinical courses.[45] Others do not, like Venezuela.[46] A few countries teach how to read and think like a lawyer through assigned readings of judicial opinions followed by intense in-class cross-examination by the professor (the Socratic method). Many others have only lectures on highly abstract legal doctrines, which forces young lawyers to adapt to legal writing style either at their apprenticeship or their first job.[47] Depending upon the country, a typical class size could range from five students in a seminar to five hundred in a giant lecture room. Most U.S. schools tend to retain small class sizes, and as such, grant admissions on a more limited and competitive basis.

Advanced countries tend to have a preference for full-time law programs,[48] while students in developing countries like Brazil and India often work full-time to pay the tuition and fees of their part-time law programs.[49][50]

Earning the right to practice law
Some jurisdictions grant a "diploma privilege" to certain institutions, so that merely earning a degree or credential from those institutions is the primary qualification for practicing law.[51] However, in many countries, a law student must pass a bar examination (or an series of such examinations) before receiving a license to practice.[51][52]

Some countries require a formal apprenticeship with an experienced practitioner, while others do not. For example, a few jurisdictions still allow an apprenticeship in place of any kind of formal legal education (though the number of persons who actually become lawyers that way is increasingly rare).[53]

Career structure
The career structure of lawyers varies widely from one country to the next.

Common law/civil law
In most common law countries, especially those with fused professions, lawyers have many options over the course of their careers. Besides private practice, they can always aspire to becoming a prosecutor, government counsel, corporate in-house counsel, administrative law judge, judge, law professor, or politician.[54] There are also many non-legal jobs which legal training is good preparation for, such as corporate executive, government administrator, investment banker, or journalist. In developing countries like India, a large majority of law students never actually practice, but simply use their law degree as a foundation for careers in other fields.[55]

In most civil law countries, jurists generally structure their legal education around their chosen specialty; the boundaries between different types of jurists are carefully defined and hard to cross. After one earns a law degree, career mobility may be severely constrained. For example, unlike their American counterparts, it is difficult for German judges to leave the bench and become advocates in private practice.[56]

Specialization
In many countries, lawyers are general practitioners who will take almost any kind of case that walks in the door.[57] In others, there has been a tendency since the start of the 20th century for lawyers to specialize early in their careers.[58]

Professional associations and regulation
Mandatory licensing and membership in professional organizations
In some jurisdictions, either the judiciary[59] or the Ministry of Justice[60] directly supervises the admission, licensing, and regulation of lawyers.

Other jurisdictions, by statute, tradition, or court order, have granted such powers to a professional association which all lawyers must belong to.[61] In the U.S., such associations are known as mandatory, integrated, or unified bar associations. In the Commonwealth of Nations, similar organizations are known as Inns of Court, bar councils or law societies.[62] In civil law countries, comparable organizations are known as Orders of Advocates,[63] Chambers of Advocates,[64] Colleges of Advocates,[65], Faculties of Advocates,[66] or similar names. Generally, a nonmember caught practicing law may be liable for the crime of unauthorized practice of law.[67]
In common law countries with divided legal professions, barristers traditionally belong to the bar council (or an Inn of Court) and solicitors belong to the law society. In the English-speaking world, the largest mandatory professional association of lawyers is the State Bar of California, with 200,000 members.
Some countries admit and regulate lawyers at the national level, so that a lawyer, once licensed, can argue cases in any court in the land. This is common in small countries like New Zealand, Japan, and Belgium.[68] Others, especially those with federal governments, tend to regulate lawyers at the state or provincial level; this is the case in the United States,[69] Canada,[70] Germany,[71] Australia,[72] and Switzerland,[73] to name a few. Brazil is the most well-known federal government that regulates lawyers at the national level.[74]

Some countries, like Italy, regulate lawyers at the regional level,[75] and a few, like Belgium, even regulate them at the local level (that is, they are licensed and regulated by the local equivalent of bar associations but can advocate in courts nationwide).[76]
Such geographic limitations can be troublesome for a lawyer who discovers that his client's cause requires him to litigate in a court beyond the normal geographic scope of his license. Although most courts have special pro hac vice rules for such occasions, the lawyer will still have to deal with a different set of professional responsibility rules, as well as the possibility of other differences in substantive and procedural law.
Some countries grant licenses to non-resident lawyers, who may then appear regularly on behalf of foreign clients. Others require all lawyers to live in the jurisdiction or to even hold national citizenship as a prerequisite for receiving a license to practice; for example, the Supreme Court of Canada has upheld the constitutionality of a citizenship requirement.[77] In contrast, American citizenship and residency requirements were struck down as unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 and 1985, respectively.[78]

Who regulates lawyers
A key difference among countries is whether lawyers should be regulated solely by an independent judiciary and its subordinate institutions (a self-regulating legal profession), or whether lawyers should be subject to supervision by the Ministry of Justice in the executive branch.
In most civil law countries, the government has traditionally exercised tight control over the legal profession in order to ensure a steady supply of loyal judges and bureaucrats. That is, lawyers were expected first and foremost to serve the state, and the availability of counsel for private litigants was an afterthought.[79] Even in civil law countries like Norway which have partially self-regulating professions, the Ministry of Justice is the sole issuer of licenses, and makes its own independent re-evaluation of a lawyer's fitness to practice after a lawyer has been expelled from the Advocates' Association.[80] Brazil is an unusual exception in that its national Order of Advocates has become a fully self-regulating institution (with direct control over licensing) and has successfully resisted government attempts to place it under the control of the Ministry of Labor.[81]

In contrast, common law lawyers have traditionally regulated themselves through institutions where the influence of non-lawyers, if any, was weak and indirect (despite nominal state control).[82] Such institutions have been traditionally dominated by private practitioners who opposed strong state control of the profession on the grounds that it would endanger the ability of lawyers to zealously and competently advocate their clients' causes in the adversarial system of justice.[83]

However, the concept of the self-regulating profession has been heavily criticized as a sham which serves to legitimate the professional monopoly while protecting the profession from public scrutiny.[84] In many countries, disciplinary mechanisms have been astonishingly ineffective, and penalties have been light or nonexistent in the vast majority of cases.[85]

Voluntary associations of lawyers
Lawyers are always free to form voluntary associations of their own, apart from any licensing or mandatory membership that may be required by the laws of their jurisdiction. Like their mandatory counterparts, such organizations may exist at all geographic levels.[86] In American English, such associations are known as voluntary bar associations.[87] The largest voluntary professional association of lawyers in the English-speaking world is the American Bar Association.
In some countries, like France and Italy, lawyers have also formed trade unions.[88]

Criticism of lawyers
Hostility towards the legal profession is a universal phenomenon. The legal profession was abolished in Prussia in 1780 and in France in 1789, though both countries eventually realized that their judicial systems could not function efficiently without lawyers.[89] Complaints about too many lawyers were common in both England and the United States in the 1840s[90][91] Germany in the 1910s,[92]; and in Australia,[93] Canada,[94] the United States,[95] and Scotland[96] in the 1980s.

Public distrust of lawyers reached record heights in the United States after the Watergate scandal.[97][95] In the aftermath of Watergate, legal self-help books became popular among those who wished to solve their legal problems without having to deal with lawyers.[98] In 1989, American legal self-help publisher Nolo Press published a 171-page compilation of negative anecdotes about lawyers from throughout human history.[99]

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