Legal System

Legal systems around the world elaborate legal rights and responsibilities in different ways. A basic distinction is made between civil law jurisdictions and systems using common law. Some countries base their law on religious texts, while in others traditional customary law or Socialist legal theory are strong influences. Scholars investigate the nature of law through many perspectives, including legal history and philosophy, or social sciences such as economics and sociology. The study of law raises important questions about equality, fairness and justice, which are not always simple. The most important institutions for law are the judiciary, the legislature, the executive, its bureaucracy, the military and police, the legal profession and civil society.

Law Firm

A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise client’s individuals or corporations about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other matters in which legal advice and other assistance are sought.

In many countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, there is a rule that only lawyers may have an ownership interest in, or be managers of, a law firm. Thus, law firms cannot quickly raise capital through initial public offerings on the stock market, like most corporations. In the United States this rule is promulgated by the American Bar Association and is adhered to in all U.S. jurisdictions, except the District of Columbia. The U.K. has a similar rule, but in recent years law firms have been able to take on a limited number of non-lawyer partners.

The rule was created in order to prevent conflicts of interest. In the adversarial system of justice, a lawyer has a duty to be a zealous and loyal advocate on behalf of the client, and also has a duty to not bill the client unreasonably. Also, as an officer of the court, a lawyer has a duty to be honest and to not file frivolous cases or raise frivolous defenses. A lawyer working as a shareholder-employee of a publicly traded law firm would be strongly tempted to evaluate decisions in terms of their effect on the stock price and the shareholders, which would directly conflict with the lawyer's duties to the client and to the courts.

Law firms are typically organized around partners, who are joint owners and business directors of the legal operation; associates, who are employees of the firm with the prospect of becoming partners; and a variety of staff employees, providing paralegal, clerical, and other support services. An associate may have to wait as long as 9 years before the decision is made as to whether the associate "makes partner." Many law firms have an "up or out policy" pioneered around 1900 by partner Paul Cravath of Cravath, Swaine & Moore: associates who do not make partner are required to resign and join another firm, go it alone as a solo practitioner, go to work in-house in a corporate legal department, or change professions burnout rates are very high in law.

Making partner is very prestigious at large or midsized firms, due to the competition that naturally results from higher associate-to-partner ratios. Such firms may take out advertisements in legal newspapers to announce who has made partner. Traditionally, partners shared directly in the profits of the firm, after paying salaried employees, the landlord, and the usual costs of furniture, office supplies, and books for the law library or a database subscription. Partners in a limited liability partnership can largely operate autonomously with regard to cultivating new business and servicing existing clients within their book of business. However, many large law firms have moved to a two-tiered partnership model, with equity and non-equity partners. Equity partners are considered to have ownership stakes in the firm, and share in the profits and losses of the firm. Non-equity partners are generally paid a fixed salary albeit much higher than associates, and they are often granted certain limited voting rights with respect to firm operations. The oldest continuing partnership in the United States is that of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, founded in 1792 in New York City.

Obscenity Lawyer - Find Obscenity Lawyer and Attorneys in your area. Federal law prohibits the broadcast of obscene programming at all times. Pornography Lawyers - Our criminal lawyers aggressively defend individuals on child pornography charges. Failure To Register - Failure to Register as a Sex Offender per a state penal code can be trouble. Criminal defense attorneys fight the charge. Child Enticement - Child enticement cases can be complex due to the use of the testimony of children. Date Rape Lawyers - Date rape is a complex and difficult area of criminal law. Obscenity Lawyers - The First Amendment's freedom of speech covers pornography does not protect all forms of pornography. Marital Rape Lawyers - Marital rape laws, what the accused spouse can expect to face in criminal charges and options for defense help. California Motorcycle Lawyer - California Motorcycle Lawyer Los Angeles California Motorcycle Accident Attorney Email Lawyer - Find a local lawyer and free legal information. Preeminent commercial email lawyer with can-spam compliance expertise as a spam lawyer are here. Find a Specialist Lawyer - Lawyers Compare - legal service providers locally to find the best legal team. Find a Specialist Lawyer