1/ Legal Practice Flashcards
1
Q
QUALIFYING AS A LAWYER IN THE US
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW
A
1) obtaining an undergraduate degree, otherwise known as a Bachelor’s degree (a BA or a BS) in a subject other than law.
2) admission to a Law School
3) only open to graduates (those who have a degree in law)
2
Q
US ADMISSION TO A LAW SCHOOL
A
1) Undergraduate degree (BA or
BS)
2) Taking a nation-wide exam, called the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT)
3) Go to accredited by the American Bar Association
3
Q
US LSAT
A
- Necessary step to gaining admission to a US Law School.
- Law Schools take into consideration both the LSAT score and the undergraduate GPA score.
- Administered by the LSA Council.
4
Q
US LAW SCHOOL RANKING
A
- As elsewhere, law schools in the US are ranked.
- Yale is invariably considered the most prestigious, followed by Stanford, Chicago, and Harvard.
5
Q
US LAW SCHOOL AND THE JURIS DOCTOR
A
- Accredited US Law Schools confer the degree of Juris Doctor after 3years of
full-time study. - The first year covers the essentials: civil and criminal procedure, constitutional law, criminal law, contract, tort and property law, equities and trusts.
- Students are also trained in legal research and writing.
- Second and third-year courses include corporate law, intellectual property, administrative law, tax law,
international law, admiralty law etc.
6
Q
THE SPECIFICITY OF LAW SCHOOL IN THE US
A
- emphasis on oratory and rhetorical skills.
- Students are trained in the Socratic method of argument, which is at the heart
of critical thinking. - Law school activities involve moot courts and mock trials.
- Students are encouraged to participate in extra-curricula activities (community
work, journalism, pro bono at legal clinics etc.)
7
Q
US ADMISSION TO A STATE BAR
A
- Each state sets its own rules for admission to that state’s bar.
- Some states have reciprocal agreements.
- All jurisdictions require applicants to pass a moral character evaluation and an ethics examination.
–> the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE)
–> character and fitness certification
–> Take an oath of admission and pay a fee.
8
Q
US CAREER CHOICES
A
- outside/of counsel (not salaried members or partners of law firms)
- in-house counsel (working in a corporate legal department = “jurist”)
- plaintiff attorneys or defense attorneys: some choose certain types of cases like personal injury, business etc.
- district attorney – a state prosecutor.
- transactional (or “office practice”) attorneys, who negotiate and draft documents and advise clients, rarely going to court.
- litigators, who advise clients in the context of legal disputes both in and out of court, including lawsuits, arbitrations and negotiated settlements.
- trial attorneys (who argue the facts)
- appellate attorneys (who argue the law)
9
Q
SPECIFICITY OF THE US SYSTEM
A
- Unified profession : The attorney-at-law is qualified to undertake the work done by both a solicitor and a barrister.
- Law school does not require any formal
apprenticeship prior to admission to the bar. - Admission to a state bar does not automatically entitle an individual to practice in federal courts. But an attorney will be admitted to the federal bar upon payment of a fee and taking an oath of admission.
- Becoming an attorney enables a person
to become a prosecutor - a state or
federal district attorney.
10
Q
US LAW OFFICE STRUCTURES
A
- Most law firms are structured as LLPs.
- It is possible for an attorney to choose to set up business as sole proprietors.
- Partners of a law firm are liable for the business; associates are usually salaried employees.
- ‘of counsel’ will bill the firm for work done.
- Larger law firms are divided into practice sections or departments (tax, litigation, etc.)
- Paralegals
11
Q
ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE
A
*A lawyer may not reveal the content of communications, conversations, and letters between themselves and their client:
- Includes an admission of guilt.
- If there is an overriding public policy interest, the court may override this privilege (wellbeing of a child)
- A defendant is innocent until proven guilty by the prosecutor.
12
Q
US BILLING AND FEE ARRANGEMENTS
A
- Bill the duration of time worked.
- The “hourly rate”
- “flat fee” – a single, fixed, one-time charge
- statutory fee : amount an attorney can charge for a particular service
- attorney referral fee : when attorneys refer business to other lawyers, the referring attorney may receive a lawyer referral fee
in return for the transfer of business - contingency fees : the attorney’s fee is
contingent upon winning the case (from 25 to 45 %)
13
Q
RETAINER
A
- A “retainer” is an amount of money paid by
a client toward legal fees at the beginning of the attorney’s representation. - The attorney must deposit retainer money in a trust account to draw from as
work is done.
14
Q
ENGLAND & WALES : LEGAL JURISDICTIONS
A
- 3 distinct legal jurisdictions : England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland
- In England and Wales, the profession is divided into two main branches: solicitor and
barrister.
15
Q
BASIC DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN A BARRISTER AND A SOLICITOR
A
- Barristers are represented by the Bar Council, solicitors by the Law Society.
- Barristers are generally concerned with giving specialist legal advice and advocacy; solicitors advise clients, and have a right of audience (the right to plead) in the lower courts.
- Solicitors deal with both contentious and non-contentious work.
- Solicitors instruct barristers to plead cases that they are unable to plead in court. Barristers frequently do not deal directly with members of the public.
