Most Difficult Areas of Law 2024: Law is a noble profession which consists of the Bar and the Bench. The Bar is made of Lawyers and Advocates as are called in some states, while the Bench is made up of Lawyers who have been promoted to the rank of Judges. The former actively carries out the practice of Law, while the latter decides on Matters presented before it for Litigation by the Lawyers.
As a Lawyer who is in active practice, you must a niche of practice which you specialize in and these various niche available to Lawyers are what we refer to as Areas of Law.
There are various areas of Law such as: Labour and Employment Law, Aviation Law, Family Law, Law of Taxation, Banking and Finance, Corporate Practice, Criminal Litigation, Energy Law, Environmental Law, Space Law, Maritime Law, Arbitration and Mediation, Constitutional Law, International Law, Intellectual Property Law, Property Law, Entertainment Law, Sports Law, Technology Law, Law of Tort, Bankruptcy Law, Human Rights, Law of Consumer Protection, Insurance Law, Company Law and Immigration Law.
However, we shall consider only seven of these areas of law which appears to be the most difficult in Legal practice.
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Top 7 Most Difficult And Hardest Areas of Law
1. Criminal Law: Criminal Law refers to the body of Laws which governs Criminal offences and crimes Nationally and Internationally. With the increasing rate of Crimes and daily report of criminal activities, notably: Assault, Terrorism, Robbery, Fraud, Trafficking, Domestic Violence, Rape, and Murder. The necessity of Criminal Lawyers cannot be overemphasized and likewise the difficulty which these Lawyers face cannot also be overemphasized.
Criminal Litigation appears to be one of the most difficult areas of Law as it is really risky and requires expertise. You definitely cannot represent a client in a high profile criminal case if you don’t know your onion in Criminal Litigation.
As a Prosecutor, it is even more burdensome as you are required to prove your case beyond reasonable doubt. Thus, you will need lot’s of time into analyzing the case, building concrete and sufficient evidence, and delivering a top notch advocacy and presentation of facts in the Court room.
Failure on your part to perfectly execute any of these three steps often results to the fatality of your case. So therefore, it is not easy for Criminal Lawyers who in addition to putting in lot of work to properly represent their clients; still need to careful in their dealings with people as being a Criminal Lawyer could expose you to risks and threats and also it often invokes the emotions of Lawyers in this area of Practice.
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2. Technology Law: Technology has become the order of the day in the world today and this has led to the emergence of Technology Law which regulates the private and public use of Technology and all the activities in the Technological space. Technology Law broadly includes: Financial Technology otherwise known as Fintech Law, Blockchain Law, Crypto currency, Digital and Electrical Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Software licensing, amongst others.
Technology Law is a difficult area of practice as it is an emerging area which makes it difficult to practice in developing countries whom do not have a defined structure for Tech Law and which most of their firms are yet to integrate this area of practice into their firm.
Additionally, there is no much resources, Judicial Precedents, and access to information and materials on delicate aspects of Technology Law which contributes to the difficulty practicing Lawyers face.
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3. Corporate Law: Corporate Law is an area of Law which regulates the rights and conduct of companies, organization, businesses, and corporations.
This area of Law in practice rightfully incorporates Company Law, Labour and employment Law, Banking and Insurance Law, Contract Law, and acquisitions and mergers. It is therefore a really broad area of law which brings an extra itch of difficulty and work for Lawyers practicing in this area.
While this area of Law appears Lucrative as it has a high influx of cases, it takes devotion, Specialty, consistency, hardwork, invention, and patience to climb the ladder of success in this area of Practice.
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4. International Law: International Law also known as Public International Law is the body of Laws applicable to sovereign states and binding the relations of one country with another. International Law emanates from the rules of International practice, treaties, Judicial precedent, Conventions, declarations, Customary International Law, agreements, and International legislations.
International Law is tailored at providing basic humanitarian rights, solving International issues, promoting friendly relations amongst member states of an international community, preventing the use of threat or violence on a country, and applying other peaceful methods to settle International disputes.
International Law is therefore not an easy area of Law to practice as it involves a whole lot and notably it has sub divisions such as Human Rights and Humanitarian Laws, Immigration Law, Public International Law, Private International Law, Supranational Law, and other delicate areas. You are therefore meant to be abreast with the ever evolving Laws in the International community as well as the laws in the local community. It definitely requires great wit to practice in this area.
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5. Energy Law: Energy Law is another major area of Law. With the dependency of most countries on mineral resources such as Oil and gas, internal tussle amongst states for the allocation of these resources, and International tussle involving contracts and agreements, Energy Law has become very essential.
Energy Law is basically an area of Law which regulates all areas of energy such as Oil and Gas, nuclear power, international policies, extraction taxes, contracts for siting, acquisition and ownership rights of mineral resources. Energy Las currently ranks as one of the most difficult areas of law for practicing lawyers as it is quite complex and most Lawyers find it difficult to develop a strong client base in this area.
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6. Environmental Law: Environmental Law refers to the body of Law which deals with the regulation of natural resources such as Wildlife, Forestry, Fishery, Water, food resources, and the protection of environment.
Despite this defined structure of practice, Environmental Law appears to be one of the most difficult areas of practice especially in developing and under-developed countries due to the lack of attention, institutional capacity, significance, lack of information and poor enforcement of legislation on this area of law.
Most of the legislation protecting our environment and natural resources are not strictly enforced, so therefore making this area of Law dormant and difficult for lawyers in this area. The novelty of this area, timid laws and lack of judicial precedent on key aspects of this area contributes further in making environmental Law a difficult area of practice for Lawyers.
7. Law of Taxation: Law of Taxation is an area of Law dealing primarily with Tax laws and the administration of Tax. As easy as it may sound, this area is one of the most difficult areas of Law as it is really complex, complicated, confusing, and boring.
The Law of Taxation involves Calculations and covers a wide range of regulations which you have to be abreast with. In addition to the bountiful Research, Analysis, Communication and Negotiation skills which this area of Law demands.
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Generally, the difficulty of an area of Law depends on the locality and place of practice of such a Lawyer as each Jurisdiction has what thrives the most there, however on the aggregate of views and enquires into the practice of Law in most Jurisdictions across the world, these seven areas of Law ranks as the most difficult areas of Law especially in developing countries. Trust this Article was insightful? Kindly stay glued to this blog for more informative Articles.
Edeh Samuel Chukwuemeka, ACMC, is a lawyer and a certified mediator/conciliator in Nigeria. He is also a developer with knowledge in various programming languages. Samuel is determined to leverage his skills in technology, SEO, and legal practice to revolutionize the legal profession worldwide by creating web and mobile applications that simplify legal research. Sam is also passionate about educating and providing valuable information to people.