Which Law Practice Areas Do Lawyers Practise?

As a lawyer, you have many options when it comes to choosing a Practice Area. Your classes, your internships, and the advice of your professors all help you narrow down your interests.

Your personal strengths and weaknesses also play a role in determining what practice areas suit you best. That's why this guide is meant to help you determine which practice areas might be right for you.

Business Law

Business law is the area of legal study that deals with laws and regulations regarding companies, their employees, and other entities. It covers a variety of areas including contracts, intellectual property, and taxation.

In a business environment, business law ensures that businesses are conducted professionally and safely. It also ensures protection of rights and liberties, resolves disputes, maintains order and establishes business standards.

Commercial Litigation

Commercial Litigation is an area of law that involves disputes between businesses. These disputes can involve breach of contract, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, business torts, class actions, shareholder to shareholders litigation and other issues that affect a company’s ability to operate and survive.

Commercial litigation is a complex practice that requires experienced attorneys to defend and advocate for their clients’ interests in court. While many cases settle out of court, it is always important to have an experienced litigator who can navigate these difficult and time-consuming processes in order to obtain the best outcome possible.

Intellectual Property

A key area that a law firm needs to focus on, IP protection is vital to any country’s economic health. It aims to encourage creativity, invention and innovation by protecting these intangible assets from unauthorised use or implementation.

Intellectual property rights vary around the world but often include things like copyrights, patents, trademarks, industrial design rights and trade secrets.

General practice (GP) lawyers spend a lot of their time thinking about contracts and litigation but often overlook intellectual property. However, this should not be the case as intellectual property is a critical asset for any business.

Family Law

Family Law is a wide-ranging Law Practice Area that encompasses all aspects of relationships between people. It includes everything from adoption to paternity, divorce, and child custody matters.

It’s a people-focused field, and family lawyers need to have empathy and genuine interest in their clients. They also need to be strong, professional legal advocates who have excellent research skills and are able to inspire trust and confidence in their clients.

Family law attorneys typically specialize in either matrimonial or child law. They may also help clients with alternative dispute resolution methods like collaborative divorce, which is a process that avoids litigation by using group meetings to resolve disputes.

Tax Law

Tax law deals with the laws and regulations that govern the tax process. This includes corporate and partnership taxes, international tax, state and local tax, personal tax, estate planning, and tax-exempt organizations.

Tax attorneys represent a wide variety of clients, including individuals, corporations, governments, nonprofits, and private foundations. They also prepare tax returns, defend taxpayers in controversies with the IRS or state tax agencies, and negotiate offers in compromise.

For lawyers who enjoy analytical and academic work, tax law is a challenging and rewarding practice area. It is constantly evolving and requires a strong knowledge of current tax legislation.

Trusts & Estates

Trusts and estates are the two primary legal structures used to transfer assets over to heirs and beneficiaries after someone dies.

Assets in a trust can often be transferred outside of probate, saving time and court fees. They can also be structured to minimize estate taxes, if properly set up and administered.

Attorneys in the Trusts & Estates practise work with high-net worth individuals, closely held businesses and financial institutions on a broad range of matters. They provide advice on estate and personal tax planning, charitable giving, estate administration and litigation and resolve complex fiduciary disputes.