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Attorney at law

A lawyer in the United States is technically called an attorney at law or an attorney-at-law. In some states a lawyer is called an attorney and counsellor at law (or attorney and counselor at law).find lawyers, lawyer, attorney, attorneys, law

The American legal system has a united (or fused) legal profession, and does not draw a distinction between lawyers who plead in court and those who do not. Many other common law jurisdictions, as well as the civil law jurisdictions, have a separation, such as the solicitor and barrister/advocate split in the United Kingdom and the advocate/civil law notary split in France. There is also no delegation of routine work to notaries public. find lawyer, find attorney, law

Titles and names

Broadly speaking, an "attorney" is one who acts on behalf of another person in some capacity. For example, an "attorney-in-fact" is a kind of agent who acts on behalf of another person, typically with respect to business, property, or personal matters, and who generally does not have to have a particular license from the government. By contrast an attorney-at-law is a lawyer -- a person trained and licensed to practice law -- to represent clients in legal matters (both in and out of court) and to give legal advice. In the United States, the term "attorney" as used in every day speech usually refers to a lawyer.

In common-law jurisdictions outside the United States, e.g., England, Canada, Australia, “attorney” is incorrect as a general term, and “lawyer” is preferred. However, in these areas, the specific terms “crown attorney”, “power of attorney”, and “Attorney-General” are used.

In earlier times, some states, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court, maintained a divided legal profession, as can still be found in the United Kingdom, consisting of attorneys (solicitors) and counsellors (barristers). In deference to this practice, when an Attorney-at-Law is admitted to practice in some states, his or her certificate of admission bears the title Attorney and Counsellor-at-Law in recognition of his inheritance of both of these roles.

Some attorneys use the post-nominal "Esq.", as the abbreviated form of the word Esquire.

The job of an attorney

Once accepted by the bar association of a state, an American attorney may file legal pleadings and argue cases in any court in that state (except federal courts, which usually require a separate admission), provide legal advice to clients, and draft important legal documents (such as wills, trusts, deeds, and contracts). American attorneys use the term lawyering to refer to the art of practicing law.

In some states, real estate closings may be performed only by attorneys, even though the attorney's role in a closing may involve primarily notarization of documents and disbursement of settlement funds through an escrow account.

Practicing law can be broadly generalized as:

1. Interviewing the client and identifying what is their legal matter or dispute;

2. "Identifying" the discrete legal and factual issues embedded within the client's larger problem;

3. Researching systematically each issue;

4. Deriving a solution that resolves some, if not all of the issues;

5. Executing it through specific tasks like drafting a contract or filing a motion with a court.

Most academic legal training is directed to identifying legal issues, researching facts and law, and arguing both the facts and law in favor of either side in any case.

Media images

Contrary to the media image of attorneys, much legal work requires hours of in-depth research in a law library or in an electronic database like Westlaw or LexisNexis. Few television programs and movies accurately portray the long nights surrounded by a pile of books or printouts which form the core of the occupational life of many attorneys.

Movies and television also do not show the stressful "juggling" aspect of litigation, in that most litigators have many cases in progress at any given time. Each case has deadlines that must be carefully monitored, and court dates which one must not forget to attend. The other side in any case can serve additional motions that will further complicate things. Repeated failures to attend to details can lead to malpractice suits or disbarment.

In litigation, attorneys spend much time discovering the facts of the case to develop a "theory of the case" that integrates facts and law in a way most favorable to their client. The discovery phase of a case sometimes turns into an unpleasant war of attrition over petty technicalities. Some attorneys believe approximately 50% to 70% of all funds spent on legal services in the U.S. cover discovery costs.

While often portrayed as a glamorous and influencial profession, real attorneys poll fairly low in terms of job satisfaction, and often have high rates of alcoholism and suicide. There are a fair number of licensed attorneys that are un- or underemployed, or float from one temporary assignment to another, doing nothing but pouring through the discovery process.

Specialization

Most American attorneys are specialized in one field or another. Often dichotomies are drawn between different types of attorneys, but these are neither fixed nor formal lines. Examples include:

* Litigators (who sue and defend in court) v. transactional attorneys (who draft and advise clients, and rarely go to court)

* Attorneys in private practice and small firms (who can't afford to litigate every little issue) v. big firms (who can)

* Plaintiffs' attorneys (individual attorneys and small firms who represent individuals on contingent fee agreements) v. defendants' attorneys (big firms billing large corporations by the hour)

* Trial attorneys (who argue the facts like Johnnie Cochran) v. appellate attorneys (who argue the law like David Boies)

* Outside counsel (law firms) v. in-house counsel (corporate legal department)

About half of American attorneys work solo or in small firms. See law firm. There are also many midsize firms, with anywhere from 50 to 200 attorneys, and since the 1970s, some law firms have merged to form giant "megafirms" with 1,000 attorneys or more.

Control of cases

An American attorney licensed in each applicable court may in a few cases control and argue his or her case at each level of the judiciary through its entire lifecycle. A notable example of this is the Brown v. Board of Education litigation, where the same trial team handled the case from start to finish at the U.S. Supreme Court. However, cases which advance to the appellate level, particularly to the U.S. Supreme Court, are often re-assigned to experienced appellate practitioners or firms.

Education and training

See main article at Education of Lawyers in the United States

Before taking the bar exam, nearly all American lawyers must first attend law school for at least three years.

The degree earned by prospective attorneys in the United States is generally a Juris Doctor or Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.).

Louisiana State University in the U.S. now offers a joint J.D. (Juris Doctor) / B.C.L. (Bachelor of Civil Law) over 7 semesters (instead of its previous 6-semester program for the J.D. alone) in recognition of the increased Louisiana civil law component of the new program.

The highest law degree obtainable in the United States is the S.J.D., or Scientum Juris Doctor, literally "doctor of juridical science". This should not be confused with the "doctor of laws" degree, or LL.D., which is usually, but not always, awarded for honorary purposes.

Usually, only law professors bother to earn an S.J.D., since it entails an additional three years on top of one for an LL.M. and three for a J.D.

Law students in court

Some courts allow law students to act as "certified student attorneys" after the satisfactory completion of their first year of law school and the completion of particular second- and third-year courses with subjects such as evidence. Many states allow students to argue in front of a court as a certified legal intern (CLI), provided they meet certain prerequisites, such as requiring the student to have completed at least half of their law education, taken or is taking the law school's ethics class, and they are under the supervision of a qualified and licensed attorney. This concept was somewhat misrepresented in the movie Legally Blonde, where the protagonist Elle argues before a jury. Although Elle was under the supervision of an attorney, no state would allow a student still completing the first year of law to argue a case in court.

Unlicensed practice of law

Some states provide criminal penalties for (1) falsely holding oneself out to the public as a lawyer, and (2) the unauthorized practice of law by a non-lawyer.

A person who has a J.D. degree but is not admitted to any bar is not a lawyer, and cannot legally engage in the practice of law. In most states, even the practice of law by an "out-of-state" lawyer is considered the unauthorized practice of law within that state. Exceptions are sometimes made when the out-of-state lawyer is permitted temporarily to practice within the state pro hac vice or in some cases as in-house counsel for corporations.

In some jurisdictions, the definition of the practice of law is quite strict; persons have been successfully prosecuted for publishing do-it-yourself will forms and for representing special education children in federal proceedings as specifically allowed by federal law.

Paradoxically, some jurisdictions will allow a non-attorney to sit as a judge, usually in lower courts or in hearings by governmental agencies, even though a non-attorney may not practice before these same courts.

American attorneys' attire

Unlike their counterparts in other common law jurisdictions, American attorneys are not required to wear wigs, robes or any other items of court dress when they appear in court. They are expected to wear contemporary business Suits.

The one exception is the United States Solicitor General, who traditionally argues before the U.S. Supreme Court in 19th-century attire, including a "morning coat" with tails.

Attorneys in the United States do not usually have to adhere to a strict color code garb and can argue their cases wearing business suits. However attorneys in India appearing in all Courts have to adhere to a strict color code garb--usually a dark colored trouser, white shirt, band, black coat and gowns.

Alternatives to the practice of law

Because an accredited legal education generally provides a strong understanding of not only the substance of the law, but also an advanced analytical approach to the use and ramifications of the law, many professions, other than the practice of law, promote or require those with legal educations. As a result of overcrowding in the legal profession, the desire to achieve better work/life balance, and disenchantment with the legal profession, many attorneys are leaving the Bar to pursue these other professions that take advantage of the attorney's legal education. In some instances, graduates of law school who either cannot be admitted or who decide not to bother to be admitted to a state bar, enter these various professions.

Alternative careers that seek legally educated employees include:

* Work with the government as a policy analyst or a legislative drafter (the latter is sometimes classified as a 'policy analyst' and sometimes as a 'lawyer');

* Work for a publisher of a legal information publication;

* Work in banking, finance, real estate, insurance;

* Work in law enforcement.

In these fields, law degrees are useful (and sometimes mandatory, such as in the case of policy analysts and legislative drafters) qualifications for a job.

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