Legal Studies, Law Degree Programs and Training

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 (…)

DUI / DWI Law

DUI (driving under the influence) and DWI (driving while impaired) law is the body of law that makes up criminal drunk driving and impaired driving charges. Any law that penalizes driving under the influence or driving with an unlawful bodily content of alcohol or drugs is a DUI / DWI law. DUI / DWI law involves both prosecuting and defending against cases of drunk driving. There are several ways to be a drunk driver In all 50 U.S. states, DUI / (…)

Constitutional Law

Constitutional law is the law that relates to interpreting, implementing and amending the United States constitution and the constitutions of the 50 states. It is an area of law that focuses on what the constitution says, what it means and what its limitations are. As social and political issues change and develop in the United States, attorneys who practice constitutional law bring these issues to the courts to ask for clarification about the meaning, interpretation and enforcement of the constitution. (…)

Coroner Careers

A coroner is an individual who directs activities such as autopsies, pathological and toxicological analyses, and inquests relating to the investigation of deaths occurring within a legal jurisdiction to determine cause of death or to fix responsibility for accidental, violent, or unexplained deaths. Coroners are often the person that makes the decision to initiate an investigation if they determine the cause of death to be questionable. There are some areas that allow coroners the authorization to issue a subpoena and (…)

Becoming Detective

A detective and a criminal investigator, who are often called special agents or agents, have the job of collecting evidence and gathering facts of possible crimes. The duties of a detective will depend on the type and size of the organization that they work for. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were 109,960 active detectives and criminal investigators working in the US with an average salary of $79,030. Typical Duties of Detectives The typical duties of a (…)

Health and Safety Law

The purpose of health and safety laws is to protect the welfare, health, and safety of the public in general. Some sections of the population such as employees are protected under the health and safety laws that have been put in place. Typically, a civil law system is in place that will cover most health and safety laws. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 says that employers are responsible for making sure that all their employees are safe (…)

Court Administrator

According to the National Association for Court Management (NACM), the increasing complexity of American life and the scope of litigation in the United States have created an administrative burden on the courts that cannot be handled by judges and traditional court staff alone. The Court Administrator, a relatively new position, fills this gap by handling the managerial duties and administrative functions within the court system. This includes paying court employees, balancing the budget of the court system, and making sure (…)

Statutory Law

Statutory law is law that’s written by a legislative body. It’s law that a government deliberately creates through elected legislators and an official legislative process. It’s up to the judiciary to interpret and enforce statutory law, but the judiciary can’t create statutory law. Laws created by statute are often codified. That means they’re all put together in one place and given numbers for reference. For example, the United States Code is the indexed collection of U.S. law. States have their own collections of statutes (…)

Family Law

Family law is the area of law that addresses family relationships. It includes creating family relationships and breaking them through divorce and termination of parental rights. Family law addresses adoption, contested custody of children and the child support obligations that result. Because family law is the practice of law that relates to relationships and children, it can be one of the most emotional areas of law. Family lawyers are involved in very personal aspects of their client’s lives. Family law practice (…)

Timber Law

Timber laws cover all aspects of the timber industry. This includes trespass actions, warranty issues, contract matters, taxation, and succession planning for timberland. Many of the laws that govern timber and its use are made by the states. There are some federal regulations regarding the use of timber as well. Timber law focuses upon the rules and practices for owning, growing, harvesting, buying and selling, and making products from trees on forested land. It encompasses the relatively unique application of (…)

Copyright law

Copyright law is the area of law that protects the right of authors, artists and creators to profit from their work. The purpose of copyright law is to encourage people to make creative works. Lawmakers believe that people are more likely to invest the time and effort to make creative, artistic works if they know they’re going to have the exclusive right to profit from those works. What’s protected under copyright law Copyright laws protect the rights of the people (…)

Bankruptcy Law

Bankruptcy laws focus on helping individuals solve and repay their debts after they have suffered heavy losses. In the United States there were bankruptcy laws as early as 1800. However, the first voluntary bankruptcy laws were allowed through the Acts of 1841 and in 1867. These laws along with the Bankruptcy Act in 1898 also called the Nelson Act are what our modern debtor/creditor relation system are based on. It is common to hear that a person in a bad (…)

Land Use & Zoning Law

Land use and zoning law is the law that determines how a landowner can use their land. Land use and zoning law involves the creation, application and challenges of land use laws. Government bodies create laws that restrict what landowners can do with their real property. The laws may control how landowners can develop property, what types of activities they can do with their property or both. Land use and zoning law is the restriction of a private property owner’s (…)

Environmental Law

Environmental law is the collection of laws, regulations, agreements and common law that governs how humans interact with their environment. The purpose of environmental law is to protect the environment and create rules for how people can use natural resources. Environmental laws not only aim to protect the environment from harm, but they also determine who can use natural resources and on what terms. Laws may regulate pollution, the use of natural resources, forest protection, mineral harvesting and animal and (…)

Private Equity Law

Private equity law covers private equity firms that pool investments of pension funds and other large investors to purchase assets and other companies. A private equity lawyer will help form the funds and help negotiate the terms of the contracts. The private equity industry in the United States began around 1946 when two venture capital firms were founded. Private equity is a type of investment where investors’ money is used to buy out businesses. It’s like Dragons’ Den! In private (…)

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? (…)

Mutual Funds Law

Mutual funds are a form of investment where the shareholders combine money in order to invest in several stocks, money market investments, and bonds as opposed to just purchasing stock in one company. Mutual funds are regulated through investment laws. Mutual funds are more extensively regulated than other pooled investment options like hedge funds, and that’s a good thing for the everyday investor. Mutual funds must comply with a strict set of rules that are monitored by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). (…)

Medical Malpractice Law

Medical malpractice law is the body of civil law that compensates victims of poor medical treatment. It’s a body of law that provides financial compensation when a person seeks medical care and receives care that falls below reasonable, professional standards. Medical malpractice law is the law that allows victims of poor medical care to receive financial compensation for their increased medical costs as well as for their pain and suffering. What is medical malpractice? Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor’s (…)

Entertainment Law

Entertainment law is the collection of the many areas of law that impact the entertainment industry. Entertainment law is the sum total of several different types of law that are relevant to the entertainment industry including transactional law and litigation. Laws that impact the entertainment industry include federal and state laws, rules created by government agencies and common law legal precedent created by the courts. Entertainment law impacts not only the talent that performs in the entertainment industry but also the production aspects (…)

Nationality Law

Nationality law is the body of law that governs how a person gains or loses citizenship. Also called citizenship law, nationality law is the law of how a person becomes a citizen of a country or forfeits the citizenship of a country. The area of law also involves the rights and obligations of a citizen. Nationality law is distinct from immigration law Even though immigration law has a lot of overlap with nationality law, they’re not quite the same things. Immigration (…)