When it comes to the practice of law, lawyers are always looking for new opportunities to find a better way to serve their clients. For many, that opportunity lies in “law new,” a term that encompasses everything from alternative legal services providers (ALSPs) and other companies that offer non-traditional ways to provide legal services to technology-enhanced tools that make it easier for lawyers to handle certain types of cases.
The term “law new” can be confusing, because it is so broad. However, it’s important for lawyers to understand how law new can be used to their advantage, because it is an area of growth in the legal industry that should not be ignored.
A new law is legislation passed by a legislature such as Congress, or other legislative body, that creates an official rule or regulation governing behavior within a society or country. Legislation is typically proposed, debated and then agreed upon by lawmakers before becoming a law. An official law is then known as a statute or an act.
Some examples of acts include the Civil Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Employment Opportunity Act. The Constitution provides Congress with the power to create laws and regulations, but it is also possible for state and local governments to create their own laws. State and local laws are usually referred to as ordinances or regulations.
There are a wide variety of laws that have been created by legislatures and governing bodies, addressing issues such as health and safety, education, transportation and more. The laws that are in effect at a given time are called the “laws of the land.”
New York law contains several sections related to various topics, including information about the minimum wage and public service employees. There are also rules regulating the sale of force-fed products and requiring open captioning in motion picture theaters. Another section requires that all construction laborers obtain a license before working on certain projects.
A large amount of legislation is added to the state’s statute book each year. A number of these bills become Public Laws, which are then published as slip laws by the Government Publishing Office. Some of these laws are republished as part of the Statutes at Large and others are added to separate collections such as the New York State Law Library’s “Laws of the People” collection.
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