You don't have to be a lawyer to know that legal matters can be intimidating and confusing. If you're new to the world of law, it can be overwhelming to try to understand all the different areas of legal practice. But fear not! We're here to give you a primer on the three most common types of law: civil, criminal, and constitutional.
Let's start with civil law. This is the body of law that deals with disputes between two or more parties—usually individuals or businesses. It's also responsible for writing contracts, settling debt disputes, and handling family-related legal issues such as divorce and adoption.
Criminal law is probably the most well-known type of law because it revolves around punishing people who break the law. This area covers offenses such as theft, assault, murder, drug trafficking, fraud, and other crimes.
Finally we come to constitutional law. This field mainly focuses on interpreting and applying provisions from the US Constitution as well as state constitutions. It also concerns itself with issues related to civil rights, constitutional amendments, due process rights, and freedom of speech laws.
Now that you have a better understanding of what each area entails, let's go through them in detail so you can gain an even deeper understanding for when unexpected legal matters arise in your life!
Civil Law: Disputes Between Individuals
Most people have heard of civil law, but could use a refresher on what it is and how it can help. Civil law deals with the matters between individuals or organizations. It often involves contract disputes, debt collection or torts.
In most cases, civil law is a private matter that two parties must try to resolve on their own. If they can't reach an agreement, they may seek legal help and take the dispute to court. In court, an impartial judge or jury will evaluate evidence presented by both sides and make a decision in favor of one of the parties involved.
When a verdict is reached, civil laws usually require the losing party to pay money for damages caused by the winning party's actions. This payment is often referred to as "compensation". It's important to note that civil trials are generally always settled out of court, so if you have a disagreement with someone it's in your best interest to try to resolve it without going to trial first.
Criminal Law: Offenses Against the State
Criminal law covers offenses against the state, or conduct that violates laws and regulations enacted by government authorities. If you've ever heard someone accused of committing a crime, then they're likely being charged with a criminal offense. In criminal law cases, the state brings charges against a defendant and seeks to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Examples of criminal offenses include:
Robbery: taking property from someone else through physical force or threats of violence
Assault and battery: intentional physical injury to another person
Drug possession: possessing substances prohibited by law
Sexual assault: unwanted sexual conduct or contact
Murder: intentional killing of another person
Fraud: intentional deception intended to benefit the perpetrator at the expense of the victim
White collar crimes, such as embezzlement and bribery
Punishments for criminal offenses can range from fines to lengthy prison sentences. There are also cases when defendants are deemed not guilty, but can still face civil punishments for their actions. Commonly, in these instances the government will still pursue restitution for victims of the crime.
Constitutional Law: Protecting Rights and Ensuring Justice
When it comes to understanding the law, there's one type of law that is at the heart of it all—Constitutional Law. As its name implies, Constitutional Law helps protect your fundamental rights and ensure justice by interpreting the US Constitution. It deals with issues such as national security, freedom of speech, privacy, voting rights and more.
If you ever find yourself in a legal dispute over these types of issues, you'll be headed to court to argue your case under Constitutional Law. In this realm, the presiding judge will interpret the Constitution to decide what is legally permissible and what isn't.
Just like any other area of law, Constitutional Law requires a deep understanding of the US Constitution as well as all applicable laws and regulations. It's a complex but important topic that lawyers must be familiar with in order to practice law competently—so if you're considering becoming a lawyer, remember that Constitutional Law will be part of your studies!
How Do These Legal Areas Differ?
As you might expect, each of the three most common legal areas is quite different from the others. So let's take a look at how they differ from each other.
Civil Law
Civil law is the body of rules that governs disputes between individuals or organizations, typically over money. It includes such things as contracts, torts, property rights and family law. In civil law, one of the parties sues another party for damages or relief from some kind of harm or violation.
Criminal Law
Criminal law deals with behavior that is considered to be harmful to society as a whole — in other words, crimes that can be punished by imprisonment or fines by the state. Examples of criminal law include murder, robbery and assault. Because criminal law involves an element of punishment, it's typically handled by government prosecutors who are representing society as a whole rather than individuals or organizations.
Constitutional Law
Finally, constitutional law is the body of laws that governs how public authorities handle certain matters. This includes things like freedom of speech, due process protections and how laws are applied universally to all people regardless of their race or gender. Constitutional law is constantly evolving as courts interpret these laws in different ways over time.
Typical Cases in Each Area of Law
When it comes to the law, there are three main categories you should know: civil, criminal, and constitutional law. Each area covers different kinds of cases, so let's break down the typical types of cases you'd find in each category.
Civil Law
Civil law encompasses a wide range of cases, but most involve disputes between two private citizens or organizations. This might include property disputes, contract disputes, personal injury lawsuits — basically anything where one party believes the other has caused them financial harm.
Criminal Law
Criminal law typically deals with offenses that are considered so serious they're prosecuted by the state, such as violent crimes and other violations of public safety regulation. Criminal trials usually involve a prosecutor arguing that the defendant is guilty of violating a particular state or federal criminal statute.
Constitutional Law
You can think of constitutional law as a specialized subset of civil law — it's concerned with protecting individuals' rights from violations by both government entities and private citizens. This might include challenges to laws based on their interpretation or enforcement by government officials, or it could be a claim that someone's constitutional rights were violated by another person or organization.
Careers in Each Field of Law
With so many different types of law, one thing is for sure: there are plenty of career opportunities. Here’s a breakdown of three areas of law and the careers typically found within each field.
Civil Law
This particular field of law is all about disputes between two or more individuals or organizations, including contract disputes. In this area, lawyers usually practice in areas such as injury law, real estate, family law and bankruptcy.
Criminal Law
In the criminal sphere, attorneys are tasked with representing clients (which may be individuals or companies) who have been accused or charged with a crime. Working as a criminal defense lawyer requires knowledge of many complex laws and regulations, as well as an extensive understanding of the criminal justice system.
Constitutional Law
If you’re interested in examining how federal and state powers intersect with one another, then constitutional law may be a great fit for you! This involves researching laws to help ensure that people’s rights are protected while staying within the boundaries of the Constitution. Lawyers who work in this field often work on civil rights cases involving First Amendment issues and government regulations such as voting rights and abortion laws.
Conclusion
To wrap up, if you’re looking to practice law, it helps to understand the three major legal arenas. Civil, criminal and constitutional law are the three most common areas of law, and each offers its own set of challenges and rewards.
No matter which type you specialize in, you’ll have to stay informed of the latest legal developments and ensure you have a thorough understanding of the applicable statutes and precedents. Additionally, it’s important to choose a field of law that aligns with your goals and interests so that you can use your skills and knowledge to best serve clients.