The legal system in the United States is nothing if not a complex one, dealing with a wide variety of legal concerns on a day to day basis. We’re all familiar (perhaps thanks to the plethora of legal shows that are available today) with the bigger reasons for legal cases, from murder to assault. And we perhaps are aware of cases that stem from unfortunate things like domestic violence and drunk driving. However, there are so many more legal cases seen on a smaller scale as well, from bankruptcy filings to patent law to employment discrimination cases to matters of patent law.

Patent law is particularly common here in the United States, where as many as 50,000 new patent applications are received on a yearly basis (though it must be noted that not every single one of these patents will actually be granted). If someone has had a concern with one of their patents, it’s likely that they will contact a patent lawyer to help them navigate any legal proceedings that might originate from it. Many a times, such concerns can be settled through the use of professional mediation services, but not always. In fact, Judge Ward, a judge here in the United States, presided over one hundred patent cases alone in his time on the bench, as well as more than 150 jury trials and other types of legal matters.

Personal injury litigation is also common, and can revolve around anything from professional malpractice cases to car accident cases. Car accident and other motor vehicle cases are by and large the ones that are the most commonly seen when it comes to personal injury cases, as there are simply so many preventable causes of car accidents out there in the world today, from driving while under the influence to driving while distracted (typically be technology such as a smart phone). But regardless of the cause of the personal injury litigation, the vast majority of personal injury cases are typical able to be solved with the help of personal injury professionals and a mediator, with only around 4% of all personal injury cases actually ending up in front of a judge and a jury.

Aside from the above mentioned cases, bankruptcy filings are also commonly seen in our legal system of today. While bankruptcy filings come in all shapes and sizes, bankruptcy filings, be it for a business or for an individual person or family, usually come from those with less in assets. In fact, this assumption about bankruptcy filings can be seen clearly in Chapter 11 debtors, as nearly all (around 90%) of Chapter 11 debtors will actually have less than $10 million in assets and liabilities alike, as well as less than this amount in various annual revenues. In cases of small businesses that make these bankruptcy filings, the business is likely to have no more than 50 employees in total – and sometimes far fewer than that.

Matters of environmental law have also become far more prevalent in the United States as more and more people become concerned with the state of the environment – and what that means for human life. In fact, nearly half of all people in the United States alone (around 40% of them, to be just a little bit more specific) have noted a concern surrounding levels of pollution both in and outside of the home as well as things like carbon emissions, volatile organic compounds, and the like. And matters of environmental law very frequently center around industrial plants.

This is due to the fact that when industrial plants are present near a community, the members of this community typically suffer higher incidences of many medical conditions, which range from pulmonary concerns all the way up to heart disease and even death. Simply by removing an industrial plant, it has even been estimated that not only will these diseases be diagnosed less frequently, but that as many as 5,000 lives could be saved on an annual basis. In such afflicted communities suffering the impact of industrial plants, more and more people are standing up and fighting back against them.