Why Attorneys Specialize Like Doctors

In the medical field, there are often more specialists than general practitioners. This is because the human body is very complex and there are times when a generalized knowledge is not going to be enough to meet a person’s medical needs. The law is even more complex. This is why attorneys specialize like doctors.

Whenever one looks at the yellow pages or does an internet search to find an attorney in his/her area, a list, often very long, pops up. If one looks closely, it is easy to spot the fine print that tells what branch of law that attorney deals with.

Criminal defense lawyers study the criminal codes in effect in the area where they operate so that they can assist individuals accused of a crime in proving themselves innocent, or at least in negotiating for the minimum punishment for their offenses. Sometimes, they are able to find flaws in the handling of a case that allow them to avoid a trial altogether and get a case thrown out of court.

Some attorneys specialize in helping people to obtain Social Security disability benefits. The Social Security laws and rules governing who is and is not disabled can be a complex maze that is enough to confuse the average person and force him/her to either try and work despite intense pain or to become a burden to family members and friends because he/she is unable to pay his/her bills. Social Security lawyers work with the Social Security Administration to ensure that individuals who are disabled receive the compensation they are due.

Another complicated aspect of the law is that dealing with real property. Surface rights, mineral rights, rental and lease agreements, laws governing the changing of hands of real property when a sale is made, and many other features make this an important specialty for lawyers to ensure that property owners’ rights are respected.

There are even attorneys that specialize in understanding medicine and what constitutes accepted and acceptable procedures so that patients who are injured by a doctor not providing the standard of care that is expected may receive compensation for those injuries.

This is only a small sampling of the many specialties available in the practice of law. Each type of law practice has its own rules, regulations, and laws that pertain specifically to that type of work. This is why lawyers are almost always specialized in the field they practice, much like doctors.

What Motherhood Really Means

Time is running out for my friend. While we are sitting at lunch she casually mentions she and her husband are thinking of starting a family. “We’re taking a survey,” she says, half-joking. “Do you think I should have a baby?”

“It will change your life,” I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral. “I know , ” she says , ” no more sleeping in on weekends , no more spontaneous holidays…”
But that’s not what 1 mean at all. I look at my friend, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes. I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal , but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will be vulnerable forever.

I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without thinking: “What if that Omega
Replica Watches had been MY child?” That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her. That when she sees pictures of starving children , she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die. I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is , becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub.

I feel I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will he professionally derailed by motherhood. She might arrange for child care, but one day she will be going into an important business meeting, and she will think her baby’s sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her child is all right.

I want my friend to know that every decision will no longer be routine. That a five-year-old boy’s desire to go to the men’s room rather than the women’s at a restaurant will become a major dilemma. The issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect thai a child molester may he lurking in the lavatory. However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother.

Looking at my attractive friend, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the added weight of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself. That her own life, now so important, will be of less value lo her once she has a child. She would give it up in a Audemar Piguet Replica moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years not to accomplish her own dreams — but to watch her children accomplish theirs.

I want to describe to my friend the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to hit a ball. 1 want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog lor the first time. I want her to taste the joy that is so real it hurts.

My friend’s look makes me reali/e that tears have formed in my eyes. “You’ll never regret it,” 1 say finally. Then, squee/Jng my friend’s hand, I offer a prayer for her and me and all of the mere mortal women who stumble their way inlo this holiest of callings.