The profession of a lawyer
In the future, I would like to become a defense attorney who will plead for people accused of criminal misconduct. I have chosen this particular profession because it will provide me with a chance to protect the rights or even the lives of many innocent people. At this point, I am not sure about the type of cases in which I would specialize; most likely I will focus on felonies rather than misdemeanors. This is the occupation that appeals to me most.
Several websites can be used by future defense attorneys and those people who already practice this profession.
Hg. Org (2011). Legal directories.
This website provides information about various crimes and about those strategies which can be adopted by the defense attorney. Furthermore, it contains a great number of publications about criminal law and gives links to many law libraries. This resource can be equally helpful to professional attorneys and students. Finally, those people, who seek employment, may also find this website very useful, since it is also a national employment center.
National Criminal Justice Reference Service (2011). The Official Site.
This website contains a great number of articles about different types of felonies and investigation procedures. In particular, one can find publications about case processing, evidence collection and presentation, witness interrogation, and so forth. Additionally, it provides links to other Web-based resources which can be of great interest to criminal defense attorneys and law students.
There are numerous scholarly articles, related to this profession. For instance, it is possible to mention the article, written by Welch White (2004). The author describes the ethical dilemmas faced by lawyers. In particular, he describes the actions of the defense attorney when he/she knows that the defendant is guilty of a capital crime. The scholar argues that the attorney must collect mitigating evidence available to him/her. This article is available in the ProQuest database which contains thousands of articles related to criminal justice.
Several professional organizations can assist lawyers; one of them is the American Bar Association. Its mission is to promote the professional growth of legal practitioners and help them resolve ethical dilemmas. This organization accepts both professional lawyers and law students, who have entered a college or a university. The membership due is $25 for a student, and 175 dollars for an associate (ABA, 2011, unpaged).
There are various ABA publications, for instance, books periodicals, newsletters; these sources cover various areas of criminal and administrative law. The second organization is the American Law Institute. It aims to improve or clarify the legislature in some emerging areas. It enlists primarily practicing lawyers, judges, and educators who have already gained experience in this field. The annual due is $ 250 for practicing attorneys and $125 for educators (American Law Institute, 2011, unpaged). This organization offers a wide range of publications about different cases and common law. Finally, we can mention the American Association for Justice.
It aims to help trial lawyers and criminal defense attorneys, who need to know how to better organize the defense of the accused. It grants membership to students and practicing lawyers. The membership dues depend on the work experience of the lawyer: a law student will have to pay 50 dollars a year (American Association for Justice, 2011, unpaged). The members of this organization can purchase a wide variety of publications on different areas of criminal law.
FindLaw (2011). Pennsylvania Criminal Laws.
Such an informational source as FindLaw will be particularly useful to defense attorneys who want to know more about the criminal laws of different states. For instance, a person, who is looking for the Penal Code of Pennsylvania, can find plenty of information about different crimes and differing degrees of a felony. Apart from that, I would use such resource as Legal Information Institute1 which contains a full collection of the United States Code. One of its sections deals with criminal law and criminal procedures. Another website which I may rely upon in the future is OpenJurist2. It has a large collection of Supreme Court decisions and other cases.
Juvenile justice system
The major peculiarity of the juvenile justice system is that it is more restorative; in other words, it is aimed at helping the delinquent adolescent to return to normal life. Unlike the adult justice system, it is not oriented toward retribution or punishment of the criminal (Elrod & Ryder, 2009). A similar feature is that both juveniles and adults enjoy the same civic rights, for instance, the right to keep silent, which is consistent with the Fifth Amendment. In my opinion, it is quite normal that underage people receive preferential treatment because they are not psychologically and socially mature, and their guilt cannot be equal to that one of the adults.
Company rights and culture
The company’s culture includes a great number of components, for instance, the power distance between management and employees, managerial or leadership style of the chief executive officer, the degree of autonomy which the frontline personnel, and certainly the structure of the company. Numerous rules and regulations shape the company’s culture; for example, in some organizations managers are required to conduct regular meetings with employees so that they could make a recommendation as to how it is possible to improve their work. This rule contributes to better teamwork and a more informal organizational culture.
Another issue is the difference between a manager and a leader. In essence, a manager is someone who can organize the work of different people and assess their performance, while the leader can inspire them and make them feel proud of what they do.
Insurance
To reduce insurance costs, an entrepreneur has to use a high deductible and make sure that there are no duplications in the insurance policies of the business (Cohen, 2006, p 65). Secondly, scholars suggest that entrepreneurs should buy a large insurance package that will cover different types of risks. To manage risks, an entrepreneur should primarily divide them into different groups (economical, operational, strategic, hazard risks). Secondly, it is vital to assess their probability and impact. Finally, the entrepreneur has to develop a contingency plan or the specific steps that should be taken in case of an emergency.
The exit strategies of an entrepreneur may depend on the performance of the company: one may choose IPO (Initial Public Offering) in order to attract investors. Under different circumstances, the owner of the company may prefer to sell the business to a large company, while retaining a certain portion of its stock or liquidate it.
Reference List
American Bar Association. (2011). The official website. Web.
American Association for Justice. (2011). The official website. Web.
Elrod. P. & Ryder S. (2009). Juvenile justice: a social, historical, and legal perspective. NY: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Cohen. W. (2006) The entrepreneur & small business problem solver. NY: John Wiley and Sons.
FindLaw (2011). Pennsylvania Criminal Laws. Web.
Hg. Org (2011). Legal directories. Web.
National Criminal Justice Reference Service (2011). The Official Site. Web.
The American Law Institute. The official website. Web.
White W. (2004). A DEADLY DILEMMA: CHOICES BY ATTORNEYS REPRESENTING “INNOCENT” CAPITAL DEFENDANTS. Michigan Law Review, pp 2001-2064. Retrieved from ProQuest.