American Law (Areas of Law)

•Administrative law
•Admiralty law
•Agency law
•Alcohol law
•Alternative dispute resolution
•Animal law
•Antitrust law
•Aviation law
•Business law
•Business organizations
•Case law
•Civil law
•Company law
•Competition law
•Computer law
•Conflict of law
•Constitutional law
•Construction law

•Food law

•Gaming law

•Genetic discrimination law

•Health law

•Health and safety law

•Immigration law

•Insurance law

•Intellectual property law

•International Law

•Internet law

•Labour law/Labor law

•Martial law

•Maritime law

•Media law

•Military law

•Juvenile law

•Music law
•Nationality law 

•Consumer law
•Contract law
•Copyright law
•Corporations law
•Criminal law
•Cryptography law
•Cyber law
•Custom (law)
•Defamation
•Discrimination law
•Drug control law
•Elder law
•Employment law
•Entertainment law
•Environmental law
•Evidence law
•Family law
•Firearm law

•Obscenity law

•Parliamentary law

•Patent law

•Paternity law

•Privacy law

•Procedural law

•Property law

•Public health law

•Real Estate

•Securities law

•Social Security disability law

•Space law

•Sports law

•Statutory law

•Tax law

•Tort law

•Trademark law
•Water law 

Attorney  
n. pl. at·tor·neys Abbr. Att. or Atty.
A person legally appointed by another to act as his or her agent in the transaction of business, specifically one qualified and licensed to act for plaintiffs and defendants in legal proceedings.

Hiring an Attorney
Once you hire an attorney, they have an ethical responsibility to zealously represent you and your interests. In the legal arena, the first step towards protecting your rights is hiring the right legal representation. That’s why it is imperative that you choose an attorney carefully; you should be confident that the person you hire solemnly accepts this charge.

Attorney - Client Privilege
Attorney-client privilege is a legal concept that protects communications between a client and his or her attorney and keeps those communications confidential.

The policy underlying this privilege is that of encouraging open and honest communication between clients and attorneys, which is thought to promote obedience to law and reduce the chance of illegal behavior, whether intentional or inadvertent. As such, the attorney-client privilege is considered as one of the strongest privileges available under law. In the United States, not all state courts treat attorney communications as privileged. For example:

  * Washington state law, and the federal courts when applying federal law, protect only client communications—an attorney's communication will be protected as privileged only to the extent it contains or reveals the client's communications.
  * In contrast, California state law protects the attorney's confidential communications pertaining only to the subject of communications in direct relation to a pending legal proceeding.
  * California Professional Ethical Rules for attorneys have a more expansive interpretation of confidentiality and this confidence includes ALL communications with a client that is reasonably foreseeable to lead to the discovery of confidential communications, whether directly in relation to representation.

Certain exceptions to the privilege allow for the disclosure of confidential information by attorneys, such as if the attorney reasonably believes the disclosure is necessary to prevent a crime that will likely result in death or serious bodily injury, instances where the attorney must defend himself from accusations of negligent representation or completion of services for receipt of a fee, and where the court would otherwise subpoena the attorney's disclosure in the interests of justice.

In regards to the attorney-client privilege as applied to legal representation in pending judicial claims and defenses, the privilege generally does not terminate upon the client's death and continues on in perpetuity.

Miranda Warnng 
A Miranda warning is a warning given by police to criminal suspects in police custody, or in a custodial situation, before they are interrogated. A custodial situation is one in which the suspect's freedom of movement is restrained although he or she is not under arrest. An incriminating statement by a suspect will not constitute admissible evidence unless the suspect was advised of his or her "Miranda rights" and made a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of those rights (the term "Miranda rights" is somewhat misleading, as the mandated Miranda warning simply clarifies preexisting Constitutional rights). However, a 2004 Supreme Court ruling upheld state "stop-and-identify" laws, allowing police to require biographical information such as name, date of birth, and address, without arresting suspects or providing them Miranda warnings.

The Miranda warnings were mandated by the 1966 United States Supreme Court decision in the case of Miranda v. Arizona as a means of protecting a criminal suspect's Fifth Amendment right to avoid coercive self-incrimination.

Your Miranda Rights 
The Supreme Court did not specify the exact wording to be used when informing a suspect of his or her rights. However, the Court did create a set of guidelines which must be followed. The ruling states:

“...The person in custody must, prior to interrogation, be clearly informed that he or she has the right to remain silent, and that anything the person says may be used against that person in court; the person must be clearly informed that he or she has the right to consult with an attorney and to have that attorney present during questioning, and that, if he or she is indigent, an attorney will be provided at no cost to represent him or her.”

As a result, American English developed the verb Mirandize, meaning "to read to a suspect his or her Miranda rights" (when the suspect is arrested).

Notably, the Miranda rights do not have to be read in any particular order, and they do not have to precisely match the language of the Miranda decision, as long as they are adequately and fully conveyed. California v. Prysock, 453 U.S. 355 (1981).

Every U.S. jurisdiction has its own regulations regarding what, precisely, must be said to a person when he is arrested or placed in a custodial situation, the typical warning is as follows:

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights?”

For more on your Miranda Rights, you need to speak with a qualified attorney.