Everyone at one point in time has watched a court-themed TV-series or has been to court for one reason or another. While many people know about the judges, lawyers, and bailiffs, we often miss the other important people who help throughout the legal processes.
There are many other types of courtroom jobs such as court reporters, interpreters, translators, clerks, and expert witnesses.
Types of Courtroom Careers You Can Choose From.
This is a short list of major jobs you can find in the courtroom. There are many more careers people can go into that are interchangeable with certain courtroom roles. For example, many police officers and US Marshals can act as bailiffs for the court or a particular case.
- Judge
There are few types of judges. District judges do the final verdict and criminal sentencing. The magistrate/federal judge is responsible for presiding over other cases often civil law not involving a criminal sentencing.
- Bailiff
This person is responsible for courtroom security both inside and outside the courtroom, escorts the judge and court employees. Guards jury from outside contact and is responsible for maintaining order in the courtroom. Often you may see the sheriff or another police officer acting as the bailiff.
- Lawyer/attorney
These are the people who will assist in representing you in front of the judge. They tend to be experts in a particular sector of law, provide legal counsel, and assist with court paper filings and fees incurred during the entirety of your case.
Typically you have a prosecuting attorney that represents on behalf of the people (state) or victim of the crime or civil infraction, and the defense attorney who represents the accused.
- Paralegal
These are people who assist attorneys with legal research, preparing legal documents, investigates facts, and other office related responsibilities.
- Courtroom reporter
These are the court officials are responsible for documenting and redacting everything that is said in the courtroom as it occurs. To see a court reporter in action you can look into the various positions for local court reporters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and in other parts of the United States.
- Interpreters
In the event that a person is not able to speak adequate English or no English, an interpreter who speaks the person’s native language will then be appointed by the courts to assist the foreign party. These people will be speaking while the court case is heard and then restate it in the person’s native language.
- Translators
Just like interpreters, translators are appointed by courts in order to write up and translate any foreign documents needed by the courts that are not in English. - Clerks
These are people who are responsible for preparing and issuing court orders, release documentation and sentencing information, court summons, and manages the court docket; order and times in which the judge will be hearing the case, and calendar.
- Expert witnesses
Although not constantly seen in the courtroom, there are professionals from various fields outside the courts who qualify as an expert witness. Many doctors, nurses, forensic scientists, accounting, and vocational experts will testify in the courts regarding the person in question. - Correctional officer
Transports prisoners to and from court proceedings and are responsible for prisoners in holding cells or prison cells to prevent any capacity for escape or violence.
Some jobs require at least 4 – 6 years of college; lawyers and judges, while other jobs require 2 years or less; paralegals and court reporters.
Types of lawyers and How They Can Help You
When it comes to the legal system you will see a variety of areas having to be covered by a system of order and rules. This makes the legal system a complex code of laws for it to encompass a wide variety of situations and cases. In order for the courts to handle all these specific types of cases adequately, they require specialized attorneys.
Here is a compiled list of the most major types of lawyers you may come across and what they do:
- Criminal lawyer
They generally cover cases involving a criminal prosecution for a crime, traffic tickets, and expungements.
- Personal injury lawyer
These types of lawyers often represent people who suffered a serious injury, unable to get their worker’s compensation claim, medical malpractice, construction site accidents, third party related injuries, car accidents and more.
- Estate planning lawyer
These are the people you would seek out regarding wills, trusts, and living wills.
- Bankruptcy lawyer
These are the lawyers you would need to seek out regarding bankruptcy claims, debt, and other issues regarding loans.
- Intellectual property lawyer
If you have a product or idea you want to have copyrighted, patented, or trademarked, then these would be the lawyers you would see to enact and protect these sorts of claims.
- Employment lawyer
These are the lawyers you seek out regarding wrongful termination of employment, sexual harassment claims, workplace safety, wage and overtime standards, privacy rights, civil rights in the workplace, employment benefits, and so on.
- Immigration lawyer
Immigration lawyers are responsible for citizenship, employment with foreign citizens, and issues related to the visa and immigration processes of their respective countries.
- Corporate/ business lawyers
These types of lawyers deal with laws related to patents, incorporation, litigation, collections, contracts, and so on. They are often the “teams of lawyers” you hear about when someone sues a company.
- Civil rights lawyer
These lawyers are responsible for representing people who have faced civil rights violations in either the workplace, public places, school, and other facilities that provide public services. They also work with human rights, constitutional law, voting rights, sexual orientation rights, and so on.
- Family and divorce lawyer
Generally speaking, these attorneys deal with laws relating to divorce, child support claims, adoption, child custody, and so on.
- Military lawyer
These people are responsible for representing military personnel, military law basics, and veterans benefits.
- DUI – DWI lawyer
These are the lawyers who handle DUI (driving under the influence) and DWI (driving while under the influence), aggravated DUI, felony DUI, commercial DUI and anything surrounding DUI cases.
This isn’t a complete list of all lawyer specialties due to how broad the legal systems are in the United States and Canada. Basically, where there is a legal issue there is usually someone who has the specialized legal knowledge to help you solve it.
