General Law Services

What is the practice of law, in general?

It will helps to understand what practicing law is before delving into what general law services are.

The practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing them in negotiations or in court proceedings such as lawsuits. That’s the basic layout of what it means to practice law.

In the United States, a person must first pass the bar exam of the state in which he intends to practice. If a lawyer has not passed the bar exam, then that lawyer is practicing law unauthorized. Depending on the state, unauthorized practice of law can result in the lawyer receiving a misdemeanor, or that lawyer could be charged with a felony (in Texas, for example).

What is a general law practice?

General law practices are equipped to represent people from all sorts of places, ages, and professions. General law services offer staffs of attorneys, paralegals, and volunteer case-handlers.

They help secure entitlements like food stamps, home care, Medicaid, and other government services available for eligible low-income people. These general lawyers assist with the transition from being on welfare to working (and getting off of welfare). They deal with rights in the workplace by offering representation in cases about wages, overtime, unpaid wages, minimum wage, and other personal employment issues. The list doesn’t end there. General lawyers can represent you in and counsel you on foreclosure and foreclosure prevention. General lawyers draft wills, handle personal injury suits, and negotiate tax disputes with the IRS on your behalf. They handle family law, bankruptcy law, trusts, estates, landlord and tenant issues, and criminal law.

You can rightly think of general lawyers as the Renaissance men and women of the legal professions. Indeed, it would seem like they know a little about everything. But in actuality, general law offices apportion different legal services to their staff based on lawyers’ expertise.

For example, a lawyer or group of lawyers will specialize in family law, another in bankruptcy and foreclosures, another in criminal law, and others in copyright law or immigration law. You see, a general law office is like an extremely well-oiled freight train. Pulled by the weighty and vastly different needs of its clients, a general law practice can offer expertise in a long list of legal fields.

Selecting a general lawyer: Start with a recommendation. But keep in mind that your choice will ultimately depend on the area of legal expertise you require for your case. If you are looking for help with wage claims, you won’t necessarily benefit from a friend’s recommendation of a spectacular copyright attorney. That’s one reason a general law practice is ideal for those who are confused about which legal areas their cases concern.

So you have to learn about your legal problem. Do some research online or at the library. Figure out a little bit about your legal issues so your search is supported by knowledge.

You can call a local attorney referral service for some numbers.

Consult colleagues, or contacts from church or the gym. You can also consult with professionals like your accountant or a realtor for some recommendations.

When you narrow your list of general law services, consider the clients the firms have worked with, what the cases were, what the firms’ websites advertise, and see if you can pull up any legal articles written by the firm’s lawyers.

Now make a call and set up a consultation. Keep in mind that consultations generally run between $75 and $250.

The consultation: During your meeting with lawyers at the general law practice, make a note of how well the lawyers listen. Do they seem to understand your problem well? Are they able to explain the complex laws concerning you? And if they can explain them, do they explain them well, so that you have a good understanding of the issues, the structure of the law, and what options you have as you proceed? Overall, do the lawyers make you feel confident?