JAG attorneys are commissioned officers who serve in the US military as lawyers. They can act as prosecutors, advocates, judges, and counsel. JAG training introduces trainees to a particular branch of the military and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. They practice criminal, administrative, labor, contract, medical, and civil law. They also provide legal assistance to military personnel and their families. A JAG attorney must commit to at least four years of military service.
Officers serving in the Judges’ Advocates General (JAG) corps are called Judges’ Advocates. A judge advocate is a commissioned officer who serves in the United States Army as a JAG attorney. A JAG attorney can act as a prosecutor, advocate, judge, and counsel. US military branches that hire judge attorneys include the Navy, Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.
JAG attorneys are not civilians, they are active military officers. JAG Corps training is not the same type of boot camp training that enlisted soldiers go through, and every JAG program will be different, depending on the military branch. JAG training introduces trainees to a particular branch of the military and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
The forum in which a judge’s attorney prosecutes a criminal case or defends military personnel in a criminal matter is called a court-martial. A court martial is where criminal cases for the military are tried. In addition to criminal law, a JAG attorney also practices administrative law, which includes personnel, environmental matters, and the Freedom of Information Act; labor law; contract law; medical law and malpractice; and civil litigation, such as the representation of claims in the United States.
For most JAG attorneys, the majority of their day-to-day work will involve legal assistance to military personnel and their families, which includes drafting wills, estate and tax planning, immigration and naturalization, attorney, family and tenant law problems. After serving as JAG attorneys and gaining additional training, JAG attorneys can also become judges at courts-martial. Additionally, judges’ advocates can train other military lawyers to become judges’ advocates.
A JAG attorney must commit to at least four years of military service. JAG lawyers are also considered military officers first and lawyers second. However, in most cases, JAG attorneys are not actively participating in the fight, but may be stationed anywhere in the world where legal services are needed.
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