Transcript Lawyers - Mr. Kaminski Home Page

Lawyers
• Over one million lawyers in the US
• Most of them are in private practice
• Most of the lawyers do not go to court
• Most give advice, negotiate settlements, draft
opinions, etc…
• Ones that do are trial lawyers or litigators
• Lawyers that are representing defendants have a
ethical and legal responsible responsibility to try
and defend his/her client
• There are 93 United States Attorneys stationed throughout
the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and
the Northern Mariana Islands.
• United States Attorneys are appointed by, and serve at the
discretion of, the President of the United States, with advice
and consent of the United States Senate
• The United States Attorneys have three statutory
responsibilities under Title 28, Section 547 of the United
States Code:
• the prosecution of criminal cases brought by the Federal government;
• the prosecution and defense of civil cases in which the United States is
a party; and
• the collection of debts owed the Federal government which are
administratively uncollectible.
• When do you need a lawyer? Best time is before the
problem happens (preventive advise)
• Attorneys advise:
• Home, business, will, contract, accidents or property damage, or
criminal or civil suit
• How: question of law
• Small claims – usually no lawyer needed
• Arguments with friends, spouse – no lawyers but maybe
counselors
• If not sure – contact a bar association (free or very cheap
cost)
• The bar examination in most U.S. states and territories is two days long and consists of:
• Essay questions:
• Essentially all jurisdictions administer several such questions that test knowledge of general legal
principles, and may also test knowledge of the state's own law (usually subjects such as wills, trusts
and community property, which always vary from one state to another). Some jurisdictions choose
to use the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), drafted by the NCBE, for this purpose. Others may
draft their own questions with this goal in mind, while some states both draft their own questions
and use the MEE.
• Some jurisdictions administer complicated questions that specifically test knowledge of that state's
law.
• The Multistate Bar Examination, a standardized, multiple-choice examination created and
sold to participating state bar examiners by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. The
MBE contains 200 questions which test six subjects based upon principles of common law
and Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code (covering sales of goods) that apply
throughout the United States.
• A majority of U.S. jurisdictions also require a performance test as a more realistic measure of
actual lawyering skill; the candidate is presented with a stack of documents representing a
fictional case and is asked to draft a memorandum, motion, or opinion document. Many
jurisdictions use the Multistate Performance Test (MPT), while California drafts and
administers its own performance tests.
• Because the MBE is a standardized test, it must be
administered on the same day across the country. That day
occurs twice a year as the last Wednesday in July and the last
Wednesday in February
• Finding a lawyer could be hard or easy
• Recommendations, employer, clergy members, other
professionals, yellow pages
• FIND A LAWYER
• For years they could not advertise, forbidden by bar
associations
• How important is the Bates case for Lawyer Advertising?
• Bates Case Summary