Attorneys are formally trained and educated in the law. They help clients establish contracts, purchase property, settle disputes between individuals or businesses and act as their representation in court proceedings.
In the legal industry, the title of Attorney is often used interchangeably with Lawyer. However, there are some notable differences between the two. Click the Attorney Big Al to know more.
When dealing with a legal matter, you may be in need of advice and guidance. This can be anything from filing a lawsuit to taking legal action against someone for a breach of contract. The type of advice you need can vary depending on the situation, and there are a few ways to obtain this. You can find legal information online or in printed media, and you can also ask a friend with a law degree for help. However, it is important to understand the difference between legal information and legal advice.
Legal information is information that pertains to the general application of laws and statutes. This is often found in written documents, such as textbooks, legal reference books and informational pamphlets. This information is available to anyone and can be easily accessed. Legal advice, on the other hand, is counsel offered by an attorney concerning specific cases and legal liberties. Legal advice is not available to everyone and must be given by a licensed lawyer.
The consequences of bad legal advice can be serious, including going to jail or losing large sums of money. That is why only licensed attorneys can provide legal advice, and they are required to carry professional indemnity insurance in case they make mistakes. Legal information can be obtained from other professionals who specialize in different areas of law, such as more specialized lawyers and complementary professions.
You can also get legal advice online, either through a website that provides an unlimited number of legal questions and answers for a fixed fee or by using a virtual walk-in clinic like the ABA Free Legal Answers. This site allows qualifying users to post a civil legal question and receive advice and brief counsel from a volunteer lawyer, increasing access to legal services for those who cannot afford a traditional attorney.
In addition, many reputable law firms now offer legal advice through their websites and social media channels. This is especially true of larger firms that focus on business or employment issues. While these services are convenient and affordable, they should not be used as a substitute for actual legal advice from an attorney who can represent you in a variety of matters.
Representing Clients
A skilled attorney will provide guidance to clients on how best to pursue their legal matters. This includes helping them develop realistic expectations about their case’s outcome and how long it will take to resolve. It also means advising them on practical nonlegal alternatives that might serve their client’s interests as well as legal ones.
A key component of the attorney-client relationship is a fiduciary duty of confidentiality and loyalty. This duty requires that a lawyer not reveal confidential information from a client to anyone outside the attorney’s law practice without the client’s consent. This privilege extends to communications between the attorney and the client, and to written documents prepared by the attorney for the client.
To protect this fiduciary relationship, the attorney must always keep client confidential information and records in a secure location. Likewise, attorneys must refrain from discussing confidential matters in public or divulging any privileged information to third parties, including friends, family and coworkers, without the client’s permission.
Before accepting any engagement, a lawyer must screen the prospective client and conduct a conflicts check. If the lawyer determines that a conflict of interest exists, she must decline to represent the person. This determination should be confirmed in writing and sent to the prospective client.
It is important for an attorney to clearly define the scope of the representation in the initial interview. Ideally, this is done by using a standard form of representation agreement that can be customized for each client. The agreement should also specify whether a retainer is required and, if so, how much money is deposited into the trust account and transferred to the attorney’s office account as it is earned.
A good attorney understands her client’s business and personal needs. She should strive to create bonds of honesty, respect and openness between her and her clients. This will allow the attorney to zealously advocate for the client’s best interests without fear of violating confidentiality or incurring a legal sanction. Attorneys should avoid inordinately demanding clients, those who are untruthful or who have a personal vendetta against another party. They should also be wary of clients who “lawyer shop” or have already been represented by multiple attorneys in a matter.
Negotiating Deals or Settlements
A lawyer’s skills in negotiation can be invaluable to their clients. In many cases, a client can avoid the cost, time and uncertainty of going to trial by reaching a settlement with the other party in a dispute. But a settlement is only possible if both parties negotiate in good faith. If one side uses hard tactics such as unreasonable offers, stalling and threatening, negotiations are likely to deadlock.
Lawyers typically have a range of negotiating tactics they can use, from the relatively innocuous to the downright unethical. Examples of tactics include referring to legal precedents, citing authority and bluffing. It is unethical to lie or misrepresent the law in order to gain a bargaining advantage, and such an agreement may be voidable in court.
The ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct states that a lawyer has an ethical duty to disclose all facts relevant to the case, including any fact that might influence his or her negotiating strategy. It is also unethical to deceive an opponent in a negotiation, such as suggesting a settlement that is outside the range of his or her insured policy when he or she has substantial coverage.
During negotiations, lawyers should discuss the issues that are most important to their clients and what concessions they can make in return. This allows both sides to understand the other’s priorities and enables them to build a coalition to reach an acceptable resolution. During this stage, the attorney should also make clear to the opposing counsel his or her own negotiating limits and how much each issue is worth.
It’s also a good idea to negotiate the procedural elements of a case, such as which experts will be used, whether attorneys will participate in the negotiations and how the process will be conducted. This will help to ensure that the final outcome is consistent and unbiased, regardless of who ultimately decides it.
When a case is headed for litigation, it’s also a good idea to negotiate key aspects of the lawsuit, such as which judge or jury will hear the case and what sort of appeals will be available. This way, both sides will have a better understanding of the risks involved in the case and will be able to formulate a logical argument for why their position should prevail.
Introductions
Whether you are introducing yourself to your clients, to a witness, to a judge or to a colleague at a conference, it is important to give a good introduction. This is especially true when you are working as a lawyer, where the way that you introduce yourself will have a significant impact on the outcome of your case.
The introduction is one of the most important parts of any paper. It provides a map for the rest of your essay and helps to ensure that your readers will not be surprised by your argument or analysis. It also serves to engage your reader and help him or her understand why your argument is important.
A strong introduction can be the difference between a reader who just skims your paper and someone who takes the time to read and think about it. For this reason, it is best to include an attention grabber in your introduction, such as a story or a quote, and then follow up with some information that will help your reader understand the context and vocabulary of your discussion.
For shorter essays, your introduction can be a single paragraph. However, for longer argument or research papers, the introduction can be as long as a few paragraphs. This is a great opportunity to define any terms that are not common knowledge and to set the stage for your argument.
A good introduction will tell the assigning attorney why he or she should read your memo and how it is likely to benefit the client or the matter. It will also help the assigning attorney to identify any legal issues, facts or predictions that are at stake in the issue being discussed. This is useful, even if the assigning attorney reads no further than the introduction, because it gives him or her a starting point for further discussion and investigation. It will also serve to distinguish the attorney’s position on the matter from other attorneys’ positions. If the memo is persuasive enough, it may even influence a trial decision. This is a big accomplishment, but is possible only with a well-crafted and convincing introduction.