In the field of court practice the lawyer deals with criminal cases, damage suits, etc. It is in this field that there is the greatest nervous strain, but at the same time the greatest opportunity for building up a wide reputation. In court practice an attorney conducting a case usually consults other lawyers and has their aid and counsel as associates in the case.
Both in office and court practice lawyers usually become notaries or justices for the convenience of clients in the acknowledgment of deeds, the making of affidavits, etc. Classified on a still different basis the principal fields of practice in law are five in number. Any lawyer would usually have the bulk of his practice in one of these five fields, acting in one of the following capacities: General practitioner, criminal lawyer, tort lawyer, real estate lawyer, patent lawyer. All but the first of these represent specialized fields.
The general practitioner performs various kinds of legal services, any kind in fact that may be called for in the community in which he lives.
The criminal lawyer limits his practice chiefly to work in criminal courts and deals with offenses that have been committed against society.
The tort lawyer deals with damage suits. The work of the tort lawyer is often divided into two fields, that of the plaintiff lawyer and that of the defendant lawyer. The plaintiff lawyer does work for those parties who are claiming damage. The defendant lawyer does work for those individuals or organizations that are sued for damage. Generally the defendant lawyer serves a liability or insurance company, corporation or other employer.
The real-estate lawyer is engaged largely in examining titles, and in acting as trustee and thus holding funds for investment. His work naturally brings him in close touch with both the buying and the selling end of the real-estate business, so that he usually, himself, engages to some extent in that business.
The patent lawyer assists in getting patents from the National Government, and in acting as an attorney in patent cases.
The following quotation affords a description of the work of a lawyer from another point of view:
“The lawyer spends a part of his time in studying law, reading statutes, decisions, reports, and treatises. The printed decisions in various States range from 1 to 18 or 20 volumes a year. With these and other legal material the lawyer is bound to have some acquaintance. Furthermore, the lawyer spends part of his time studying miscellaneous topics, which become the subject of litigation, such as street paving, the coal business, the chemistry of wall paper, and so on. Every science may have something to say to the lawyer. Part of his time is spent in consultation with his clients; first of all to ascertain the facts of their cases, and afterwards to explain to them their rights on the facts. He also spends time in writing letters and doing sundry business incidental to giving advice to his clients. This work for the client branches out into a search for missing witnesses, examination of records of deeds to discover the ownership of real estate, the perusal of the account books of a client to find out the balance of a claim or similar investigation. Furthermore, part of his time is spent in writing of pleadings and briefs; the pleadings are the statement of claim or defense made by him to the court; the briefs are his written arguments of law giving the legal reasons why the law favors his client’s case. Finally, he spends much of his time in arguments to the judge and jury, and in the examination of witnesses and other proceedings in court. Here, as in all occupations, nine-tenths of the work is what may be called routine work or even drudgery. This can not be escaped. The lawyer does not spend his time in preparing and delivering eloquent orations. As in other occupations, the really interesting work, full of perpetual zest, is usually a small part of the whole.”[36]
[36] The Law as a Vocation, pp. 24-25, Vocation Bureau, Boston, Mass.