Washington D.C Legal Resources

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy law falls under civil law, and during voluntary bankruptcy proceedings, individuals or businesses may file for bankruptcy in an attempt to resolve their financial debt. In some cases, a creditor may force the filing of an involuntary bankruptcy proceeding. During bankruptcy, a court administers the property and other assets of a "debtor" (the person or business who owes money to others) for the benefit of the "creditor" (the person or business that is owed money). Consumer bankruptcy refers to individuals and commercial bankruptcy refers to businesses. Click here to find a bankruptcy lawyer in your area.

Divorce

Divorce refers to the dissolution of a marriage. The laws that govern when a divorce may be granted are different for every state, including the residency requirement for that state and grounds or a reason for the divorce under that state's law. Grounds for divorce can be fault-based or no-fault based and can also be different for every state. Everything from marital property, alimony, child support, and child custody also vary by state. Click here to find a divorce lawyer in your area.

Immigration Law

Immigration law can be very difficult to understand because immigration laws are always changing. There are over 7,500 immigration lawyers practicing in the US and finding the right lawyer for your specific needs takes research. Immigration law is strictly federal in nature which means it is basically the same across the country. Immigration law covers U.S. citizenship, loss of citizenship, and the admission and removal of people who are in the U.S. illegally who are known as illegal aliens. Immigration law is almost entirely administrative as well which means that most petitions are submitted by mail and personal appearances by an immigration lawyer are becoming less and less common.

Criminal Law

Criminal law includes the legal rights of an accused and the criminal process, which includes an arrest, an arraignment, a grand jury, the entering of a plea, the trial, the jury, and the evidence. The main purpose of criminal law is to propose a punishment for criminal offenses. In order to prove any crime, no matter how serious, the prosecutor must prove that the accused committed a guilty act with a guilty mind beyond a reasonable doubt.

Personal Injury Law

Personal Injury law encompasses wrongdoing or damage done to a person, their property, their rights, or their reputation. A personal injury can happen at work, as the result of a traffic accident, because of a faulty product or as a result of a faulty repair. The personal injury can be physical and/or psychological but it has to have occurred due to the negligence of your employer, your doctor, a manufacturer, or some other person or organization who owes you a duty of ordinary care.

Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice falls under personal injury. A medical malpractice claim has to be proven, therefore, to establish your health care provider's liability; you must have a medical malpractice testimony from an expert. The expert's claim would be that no reasonable health care provider would have done what yours did. The medical malpractice testimony would have to show that your health care provider's negligence was a cause of injury or death. Only once you establish liability, are you entitled to medical malpractice damages. There is a statutory time period or "statute of limitations" established by state medical malpractice law for medical malpractice claims.