The Purpose of a White Collar Lawyer?
A white collar lawyer is an attorney who specializes in the
field of white collar crime. There are many different
sub-disciplines within the field. Generally speaking, a white
collar crime is a crime that is perpetrated by an individual of
high social status as a part of their business activities. Some of
the crimes that may be considered white collar include
embezzlement, insider trading, money laundering, copyright
infringement, and other similar crimes.
White collar crime is usually used to refer to nonviolent crimes
motivated by personal financial gain. There is no strict definition
for the types of crimes that are considered to be white collar
crime. Generally speaking, however, they are used to refer to
dishonest business practices that violate laws. According to the
Department of Justice, a white collar crime is an illegal,
non-violent activity which is deceptive, manipulative, dishonest,
or secretive.
Generally speaking, a white collar crime is not thought to be as
serious as many other types of crime. If an individual is found
guilty of a white collar crime and sentenced to prison, they will
be placed into a minimum security prison rather than a maximum
security prison in most cases.
One term which is often associated with white collar crime is
fraud. A white collar lawyer will spend a great deal of time either
accusing individuals of committing fraud, or developing defenses
stating that fraud was not committed. There are many different
types of fraud, which can be broadly defined as intentionally
deceiving a business or a person. These crimes can include fraud in
relation to credit cards, consumers, telemarketing, insurance,
health care, mail, government, and securities.
An individual can be accused of committing a white collar crime
either on the state or the federal level. On the federal level, a
much larger group of activities are considered to constitute white
collar crime that on the state level in most cases. Because of the
fact that most successful businessmen operate on a national or even
an international scale, the federal government is typically better
equipped to handle white collar crime sentencing. There are several
organizations which police white collar crime to some degree. These
include the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, the US attorney general, and several other federal
agencies.
A white collar crime lawyer may act on behalf either of
defendants or plaintiffs in relation to white collar crime. They
may represent individuals, businesses, and consumer advocate
organizations, among others.