PETOSKEY LAWYER

Lawyer

A lawyer is a person 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).

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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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. 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. 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. Sometimes civil law notaries are allowed to give legal advice, as in Belgium. In many countries, non-jurist accountants may provide what is technically legal advice in tax and accounting matters.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Lawyer".

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