JACK TARRANT, ATTORNEY AT LAW
A CIVIL LAW PRACTICE

WHAT IS "CIVIL LAW?"

Personal Injury

Wills and Estates

Probate of Estates

Contracts 

Real Estate due diligence

Business Formation

Law suits to redress wrongs against you

Civil Law is the part of the legal system that helps us with relationships, contracts, and business.  Importantly, Civil Law addresses the non-criminal interactions and relationships between us and gives us a means to legally handle disputes in a non-violent, enforceable way.  You might have also heard the term "common law."  In the United States today, we treat civil law and common law as pretty much the same.  Civil attorneys practice both without any real distinctions.

Civil attorneys write contracts, real estate documents, estates and trusts, probate, business entity formation documents, and conduct due diligence among a myriad of other activities.  A civil attorney is a professional writer.  They assist in the drafting of legal documents so that the intent of the client is clearly expressed and enforceable.  

On the enforcement side, a civil attorney might help you with injuries or monetary damages a person suffers due to the conduct of others.  Parties can be individuals, partnerships, corporations or almost any legal entity.  Types of injuries a person suffers might stem from personal injury suffered at work, an injury incurred through the negligence of others, or at the hands of an automobile driver.  You have a right to seek compensation for any injury you receive if it was the fault of someone else.

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Civil law is much broader though. My practice also covers damages you received due to non-injury related losses.  For example, if someone damages your property, your home or your car for example,  you very likely have an action to recover damages, that is, the value lost, to the property. 

A breach of contract is another area covered by civil law.  If you have a contract with someone and they fail to honor that contract, you likely have a claim for any monetary damages you suffer as a result. By way of example, common issues arise with contractors who fail to honor their end of a contract.  In some cases, you might even be able to force a party to honor a contract via an action for "specific performance."

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Civil law also encompasses actions for libel or slander (defamation).  If you believe someone has deliberately damaged your reputation in your community, you may have a claim for defamation.  Slander refers to spoken defamation and Libel to written.

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As you can see, Civil law is very broad and encompasses the day to day legal needs of clients while protecting their interests with properly drafted documents and, if need be, aggressive enforcement action.

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