Legal Studies, Law Degree Programs and Training

Labor Law

Labor laws are the laws that govern the relationships between employers and employees when employees unionize. Labor laws regulate whether employees can join together to negotiate employment terms collectively. When laws allow collective bargaining, they determine the obligations and rights of the employer and employees. Where do labor laws come from? Lawmakers pass labor laws with the goal of making the employer-employee relationship fair to everyone involved. Proponents believe that workers have an unfair bargaining position compared to the resources and (…)

Customs Agent

The main role of a Customs Agent (aka Customs Inspector) is to investigate and inspect persons, goods, common carriers, and merchandise, arriving in or departing from the United States or between states to detect violations of immigration and customs laws and regulations. Customs Agents work for the United States Department of Customs and Border Patrol, which is a branch of the DHS (Department of Homeland Security). A custom agent that works for the CBP is responsible for helping keep weapons (…)

Consumer Law

Consumer law is the group of laws that protect the public at large from unfair and predatory business practices. Consumer laws protect the public from unscrupulous ways of doing business. The area of law requires compliance from the corporations that consumer laws regulate. What does consumer law regulate? The practice of consumer law concerns itself with protecting individuals from unfair trade, inaccurate information and unethical ways of doing business. Say the phrase consumer law and most people probably think of (…)

FBI Careers

FBI agents have the difficult job of conducting national security investigations that can be extremely sensitive. In addition, the job as an FBI agent requires an individual to enforce more than 300 federal statutes. Some matters that an FBI agent may work on include cyber crime, foreign counterintelligence, terrorism, white collar crime, organized crime, civil rights violations, public corruption, bank robberies, kidnapping, air piracy, drug trafficking, as well as other violations of federal law. FBI Requirements There is a specific (…)

How to Get a Law Internship as an Undergraduate

Your undergraduate years are a great time to have a legal internship. If you’ve already decided that you want to work as a legal intern, you need to figure out how to go about getting a law internship. Fortunately, there are things that you can do to find the right legal internship. Learning about what to expect in an internship and how to approach the application process can help you make your search a successful one. What are law interns? (…)

Intellectual Property Law

Intellectual property law is the area of law that deals with legal rights to creative works and inventions. It controls who gets to use creations including new products, artistic works and designs. The purpose of intellectual property law is to allow the people who create and invent things to profit from their work. Lawmakers believe that it’s fair for creators to profit from their own work product. Types of intellectual property law Intellectual property laws concern the ideas people have and the (…)

Patent Law

Patent law is the area of law that deals with an inventor’s exclusive right to use their own invention. The area of patent law aims to encourage new products and inventions by granting creators the legal right to use and profit from the things that they create. Patent attorneys help clients apply for patents, enforce patents and challenge them. Patent law is part of intellectual property law. What is United States patent law? Patent law is U.S. federal law. It comes (…)

Personal Injury Law

Personal injury law is the body of civil law that allows individuals to bring a legal claim when they’re hurt because of the wrongful actions of someone else. The purpose of personal injury law is to require the people who are responsible for an accident to pay for the damages that they cause. Personal injury law aims to use money in order to compensate victims when they’re hurt because of another person’s negligent or intentional act. Personal injury law is (…)

Doctor of Laws (J.S.D./S.J.D.)

After graduating with a Juris Doctor a person is eligible for practicing law in the particular state where they pass their bar examination. A person may then go on to specialize in a specific area of the law and study for a Master of Laws degree. For those individuals that prefer to work in academia or in other types of work that has an emphasis in legal scholarship, the Doctor of Laws is the next step. A Doctor of Laws (…)

Antitrust Law

Antitrust law is the broad category of federal and state laws that are meant to keep business operating honest and fairly. Antitrust laws regulate the way companies do business. The goal is to level the playing the field in the free market and prevent businesses from having too much power. For the purposes of antitrust law, a trust is a large group of businesses that work together or combine in order to form a monopoly or control the market. Major (…)

Types of Law Degrees

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), becoming a lawyer requires a minimum of two degrees over the course of 7 years of full-time study – 4 years for an undergraduate degree, followed by a 3 year law degree earned from a law school accredited by the ABA. If you are considering law school, generally there are three different types of law degrees a person can earn in the U.S.A. These degrees include a Juris Doctor, a Master of Laws, and a (…)

Tort Law

Tort law is the area of law that protects people from bad acts of others. When a person commits a tort, they violate civil law. If a person is damaged by someone else’s wrongful act, they can bring a claim for compensation against the person who commits the tort. The purpose of tort law is to ensure that wrongdoers pay for the damage that they cause instead of the victims. Torts aren’t crimes A tort can be a crime. However, (…)

Product Liability Law

Product liability law is a type of personal injury law that gives victims a legal cause of action when they’re hurt because of a dangerous product. People and corporations who make products must make products that are safe. Products liability is the area of law that governs what manufacturers must do to protect public safety and what rights victims have if they’re hurt because of a defective product. Product liability law is also called products liability law. Product liability law (…)

Obscenity Law

Obscenity law is the law that regulates what images, speech and other expressions individuals can lawfully communicate. Obscenity law concerns itself with banning or suppressing speech that violates standards of good taste and decency. The area of law balances legitimate communication in a free society with the purposes of public censorship. The practice of obscenity law involves prosecuting and defending cases that challenge and interpret obscenity laws. Why do obscenity laws exist? Obscenity laws protect a sense of morality in (…)

How to Become a U.S. Marshal (Deputy)

The USMS (United States Marshals Service) is the oldest of the federal law enforcement agencies in the United States and served the country since 1789. The USMS acts as the law enforcement of the judiciary department. There are 94 district offices, one for each of the federal judicial districts. There are also 218 sub-offices and 3 foreign offices. A US Marshal manages each of the district offices and receives his job through appointment by the President. Each of the other (…)

Social Security Disability Law

Social Security disability laws provide assistance to individuals with disabilities. Benefits provided under these laws include insurance that will pay benefits to both the disabled individual and their family as long as you have paid enough in social security through work. Supplemental security income is provided based on financial needs. An attorney is not allowed to charge you a fee unless it has been approved by Social Security. Social Security Disability Insurance benefits are only paid to individuals who are totally disabled, as that term (…)

Private / Hedge Funds Law

Private funds and hedge funds are investment funds that are a part of a diverse market range. In the United States only accredited investors are allowed to participate in Hedge Funds. The term hedge fund is credited to Alfred W. Jones, a financial journalist who first used the phrase “hedged fund” in 1949. A private / hedge fund is an investment fund that pools capital from accredited investors or institutional investors and invests in a variety of assets, often with (…)

How to Become a State Trooper

A state trooper is often referred to as the State Police or as Highway Patrol Officers. A State Trooper is typically responsible for enforcing traffic laws on state highways. In addition, these officers often help law enforcement agencies that are located in more rural areas. State Trooper Requirements Each state has varying requirements for their state troopers however the majority of states require an aspiring State Trooper to attend and graduate from the state police academy. For example, according to (…)

Probation Officer

A probation officer has the responsibility of supervising the activities of individuals that have been convicted of crimes and released on probation. A probation officer is very similar to a parole officer in that both types of law enforcement deal with convicts, but probation officers primarily deal with convicts of lesser crimes who have not been recently discharged from state or federal prison. Probation officers work with local, state, and federal prison systems. When a convict is released from state (…)

Corporate Law

Corporate law is the body of laws, rules, regulations and practices that govern the formation and operation of corporations. It’s the body of law that regulates legal entities that exist to conduct business. The laws touch on the rights and obligations of all of the people involved with forming, owning, operating and managing a corporation. What’s a corporation? A corporation is a legal entity that exists to conduct business. It’s a separate legal entity from the people who make it. (…)