A new lawsuit is filed every two minutes within the United States. Needless to say, more and more people are turning to financial law to resolve disputes and issues. This isn’t surprising: legal involvement means that a neutral body can judge a situation and ensure that the fairest result is achieved in any dispute.
This is essential when two individuals or companies are struggling to see eye to eye or reach a compromise. As a nation, we are no strangers to practices such as suing individuals and companies, but a surprising amount of us wouldn’t know our way around financial law if the occasion arose that we needed to use it ourselves.
It is important that you know your rights and for you to ensure that justice is enforced against individuals who may have caused you financial harm. So, it’s time to get financially savvy. If you are worried that you have been financially exploited, tricked, or damaged, read through this complete beginner’s guide to financial law to get the ball rolling.
Common Reasons to Turn to the Law
There are endless reasons why people turn to the law to help resolve financial issues. Some are extremely serious. Others may seem relatively trivial. There are five general areas of financial law, however, that tend to receive more attention.
These are damage recovery, replacing lost earnings, contract enforcement, divorce settlements and protecting property.
Damage Recovery and Replacement of Lost Earnings
If you find that you have been injured or have become ill due to the negligence of another person or company, you have the right to claim damages. After all, you shouldn’t have to fork out for expensive hospital bills when they were racked up through no fault of your own.
In a similar vein, if you have to take time off work due to the negligence of another party, they should cover your lost earnings. Time off may be necessary for a full recovery, but you may not receive sick pay. Not everyone is paid sick leave, and the self-employed cannot afford to take time off work.
You shouldn’t face the threat of missing bill payments which could cause damage to your credit score because someone else’s actions caused you harm. You also shouldn’t have to sink into debt because of this either.
If you find yourself in this situation, you should contact a personal injury claims lawyer. These attorneys will be able to evaluate whether you have an adequate case to put forwards and will represent you in court.
Their job is to ensure that justice is served and they will do everything in their power to aid the process. Opt for trusted firms with good customer feedback and recommendations.
Contract Enforcement
A contract is a voluntary, deliberate and legally binding agreement between two or more parties. It will generally detail the rights and duties of participating parties in regard to a deal. Sometimes you may find that you have a contract with someone and they don’t keep their part of the deal.
If you can’t solve this amicably, you may have to turn to the law for help. The contract language is often specialist and can cause confusion or disagreements between different parties who understand what is written in different ways. Legal help will clear all of this confusion.
If you find that you have issues that lie in this area, you can turn to contract law. Contract law ensures that anyone involved in a deal feels safe in the knowledge that their rights will be upheld and offers reassurance that the other party will have to stick to the terms they have agreed.
Divorce Settlements
Half of all of the marriages in the United States end in divorce. Many of these do not end on amicable terms and will see couples bickering, arguing, refusing to compromise, and sometimes even attempting to punish one another by making the process long and difficult.
Hostile marriage breakups can create all sorts of problems when it comes to fairly dividing a couple’s assets between them. If you are facing this type of financial issue, you may wish to start out with mediation or counseling.
This takes place in a professional environment where a neutral party will attempt to help a couple to reach a compromise. Discussing disagreements in a non-personal environment can help to cool tensions and keep anger levels under control.
However, if this fails, you may need to turn to family law. This area of justice focuses on effective procedures to end a marriage in the fastest, easiest and most civil way possible.
Protecting Property
We live in an increasingly complex business and social environment where issues of territory arise frequently. A good example of property protection is if a neighbor puts a fence up on your property: if the fence encroaches on your space, they are effectively stealing your land.
You have the right to recover your land (which is on your neighbor’s side of the fence) by requesting that the fencing is moved or removed.
Evaluating Whether You Have a Valid Case
Many people refrain from turning to the law, as they worry that their case will not be valid and they will ultimately waste their time and money. However, this shouldn’t be a worry. A good attorney will never file a case for court if they do not believe they have a significant chance of winning.
So don’t hesitate to make an inquiry. It’s as simple as picking up the phone, writing a quick email or walking into a firm for a face-to-face conversation. An initial consultation will give you confidence in your case.
If you are apt to forget little details, take a notepad along with you containing all of the details of your financial issue and situation. If the lawyers believe you are entitled to compensation, they will be able to guide you forward through the rest of your legal journey.