Family Law

• Divorce
• Child Support
  Child Support is a court-ordered payment by one parent to the custodial parent of a minor child after divorce (dissolution) or separation. Usually the amount of support is based on the income of both parents, the number of children, the expenses of the custodial parent, and any special needs of the child. In many states or locales the amount is determined by a chart which factors in all these figures. It may also include health plan coverage, school tuition or other expenses, and may be reduced during periods of extended visitation such as summer vacations. Child support generally continues until the child reaches 18 years, graduates from high school, is emancipated (no longer lives with either parent), or, in some cases, continues after the child reaches 18, such as during college attendance.
• Child Custody and Visitation
  There are two kinds of Child Custody: legal custody and physical custody. Custody battles most often arise in a divorce or separation, requiring a court's determination of which parent, relative or other adult should have physical and/or legal control and responsibility for a minor (child) under 18. When both parents share custody of a child after a divorce it is called joint custody. Joint custody may be either legal or physical custody. Physical custody, designates where the child will actually live, whereas legal custody gives the custodial person(s) the right to make decisions for the child's welfare. Child custody can be decided by a local court in a divorce or if a child, relative, close friend or state agency questions whether one or both parents is unfit, absent, dead, in prison or dangerous to the child's well-being. In such cases custody can be awarded to a grandparent or other relative, a foster parent or an orphanage or other organization or institution.
• Adoption
  Adoption Law falls under Family Law and is mainly governed by the states in which the parent and child live. It encompasses the process by which a legal parent-child relationship is created between individuals not biologically parent and child (adoption process). The biological parent gives up all parental rights and obligations, and these rights and obligations are assumed by the adoptive parents.
• Paternity
• Premarital Agreement
• Guardianship
• Spousal Support
  The award of child support may be modified by the court upon petition of either party if a change of circumstance of the parents or child is proven. Child support is separate from alimony (spousal support) which is for the ex-spouse's support. Child support is not deductible from gross income for tax purposes nor is it taxed as income, unlike alimony, which is deductible by the payer and taxed as the adult recipient's income.
• Child Abuse

Criminal Law

• Criminal Defense
  After a decision is rendered in a civil or criminal law trial by a trial judge or jury, the party who loses has the right to have the decision reviewed by a higher court. Appellate Law (also known as appeals process or appellate procedure) consists of the rules and practices by which higher courts review lower court judgments.
• DUI/DWI
• Wrongful Death
• Traffic Violations
• White Collar Crimes
• Misdemeanors
• Drug Crimes
• Assault
  In most states, an Assault & Battery is committed when one person 1) tries to or does physically strike another, or 2) acts in a threatening manner to put another in fear of immediate harm. Many states declare that a more serious or "aggravated" assault/battery occurs when one 1) tries to or does cause severe injury to another, or 2) causes injury through use of a deadly weapon. Historically, laws treated the threat of physical injury as "assault", and the completed act of physical contact or offensive touching as "battery," but many states no longer differentiate between the two.
• Juvenile Crimes

Business and Corporate Law

• Corporate Law
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Business Formation
  Are you planning on forming a corporation or partnership? An attorney can avert a lot of legal issues that can arise with forming these types of businesses and he or she can advise you on the best business formation for your needs. An attorney can also help research any possible intellectual property issues and issues relating to hiring employees, tax issues and other legal matters that can arise with forming and running a business.
• Business Disputes
  Business law or Commercial law is the body of law which governs business and commerce and is often considered to be a branch of civil law and deals both with issues of private law and public law.
• Business Transactions
  Agriculture Law considers the role of government in agriculture as well as traditional transaction issues such as contracts, bailments, leasing, the marketing and storing of commodities, special secured financing rules relating to agriculture credit, and issues confronting landowners and the farming and livestock industries. There are many federal and state regulations governing these activities and their impact on farmers, farm workers, consumers, and the environment. Technology has also found its way to agriculture, which also raises issues on intellectual property, trade, finance, credit, and general commercial transactions. Agriculture law legal issues include soil preparation, seed planting, crops, crop harvesting, gardening, horticulture, viticulture, apiculture (bee-raising), dairying, poultry, pest control and pesticides, and ranching in a commercial setting, as well as land use, use of natural resources, and environmental rules. What governs the agricultural industry?
• Intellectual Property
• Unfair Competition
  Most if not all states have comparable statutes prohibiting monopolistic conduct, price fixing agreements, and other acts in restraint of trade having strictly local impact. Various other regulations regarding unfair competition are also enforced on federal and state levels.
• Antitrust
  The Department of Justice alone is empowered to bring felony criminal prosecutions under the Sherman Act. Individual violators can be fined up to $350,000 and sentenced to up to 3 years in federal prison for each offense. Corporations can be fined up to $10 million for each offense. Under some circumstances, the fines can go even higher. To secure a conviction of antitrust violations, an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) must present evidence that when submitted to a jury or judge would prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant entered into a contract or conspired with others to restrict trade, suppress competition or fix prices, and that this action substantially affected interstate or foreign commerce.

Employment Law

• Workers Compensation
  1. Admiralty and maritime matters arising out of an injury to one or more persons or damage to property related to a vessel in navigation on the navigable waters of the United States during the course of traditional maritime activity with the potential for affecting maritime commerce, which can also injuries and property damage sustained on or by means of pleasure craft, as well as those sustained on or by means of commercial vessels. There are also two federal laws that cover injuries sustained by seamen, longshoremen and harbor workers: the Jones Act and the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA).
• Wrongful Termination
• Sexual Harassment

Property Law

• Real Estate Litigation
• Premises Liability
• Construction Litigation
• Eminent Domain
• Land Use and Zoning
• Landlord-Tenant Disputes
• Property Damage
  If you have a insurance or maritime contract dispute, a dispute involving salvage, a Jones Act claim, a LHWCA claim, or a property damage or injury dispute involving a commercial or pleasure vessel use the State Lawyers Directory to find a lawyer specializing in admiralty/maritime law now.

Immigration Law

• Citizenship and Naturalization

Health Law

• Personal Injury
  The problem with the former type of firm is that lawyers have to represent all their clients, not just those with mesothelioma. Mesothelioma cases represent a small fraction of the all asbestos personal injury cases now pending in the court system. The vast majority of the other cases are for diagnoses of non-malignant conditions (asbestosis and pleural scarring) that do not, in general, have anything like the severity of mesothelioma. When your case is handled by a firm that represents hundreds, or even thousands, of individuals with asbestos-related diseases, this disparity between your case and most of the other cases can result in several downsides. First, your mesothelioma case may not get the kind of individual attention it should, especially if it is a case with difficult exposure issues; second, and more importantly, in settlement negotiations, the inventory of other cases may not be advantageous to your case, which will generally be one of the stronger cases in the mix; and, third, some of the larger, traditional firms have mass settlements with certain asbestos companies already in place that may not be advantageous to your case.
• Auto Accidents

Trusts and Estates

• Estate Planning
• Wills
• Probate

Finance Law

• Bankruptcy
  Bankruptcy Law provides a legal method for an individual or commercial enterprise (business) to either wipe out (discharge) the debts by liquidating assets and distributing them among creditors or resolve them by developing a court-approved reorganization plan, or other plan involving the repayment of creditors over time.
• Tax Law