Law as a Career
By: Brent Landon
The Role of the Litigation Attorney
Litigation Attorney's represent plaintiffs and defendants in civil cases and manage all phases of the litigation process from investigation, pleadings, discovery to pre-trial, trial, and settlement and appeal. These tasks vary based on the experience level of the attorney, whether the litigation attorney is representing the plaintiff or the defendant, and the nature of the dispute. Litigation attorney's can appeal the case if they do not win it. They can also retain assistants that specialize in different law practices to help them out.
Structures of a Law Firm
There are many different parts of a law firm. Partners are joint owners and operators of the law firm. There are two different types of partners: equity and non-equity. Equity partners have an ownership stake in the firm and share in the law firm's profits. Non-equity partners are generally paid a fixed salary and may be vested with certain limited voting rights in law firm matters. Managing partners are people that manage parts of the firm and preform full time law practice at the same time. An associate are lawyers that have prospect of becoming partners. It takes 6-9 years to become a partner. Summer associates are law students that intern with law firms during the summer months.
Other Law Practice Areas
Trade secret law is a branch of intellectual property law that is concerned with the protection of proprietary information against unauthorized commercial use by others. They help clients navigate the landscape for trade secret enforcement and litigation on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants. Toxic tort law is an injury or illness caused by contact from any toxic substance such as, toxic mold, lead paint, solvents, pesticides, or metals. They litigate toxic tort claims, bringing action on behalf of the plaintiff or in representing the defendant. They also take time to find evidence through hard research to find what happened and how it would have happened.
What I Learned From Mr. Olson
I learned that lawyers have to go through a lot of schooling to actually become lawyers. I also learned that he was a police officer before he decided that he wanted to become a lawyer. He said that when in Wisconsin lawyers don't have to take a bars exam like they would have to in any other state. He told us that his friends had went to college in Minnesota and when they came back to Wisconsin they still had to take the bars exam because they went to college out of state. He didnt have to take it because he went to law school in the state of Wisconsin.