1:52 PM Attorney at law | ||||
(Redirected from Attorney ) This article relates to the profession as practiced in the United States. For a more general discussion, see Lawyer. For discussion of powers granted to an Attorney-in-Fact, see Power of attorney. For the Japanese profession, see Attorney at law (Japan) . An attorney at law. or simply an attorney or lawyer. in the United States is a person licensed to practice law. usually by the highest court of a state or other jurisdiction. Alternate terms include attorney-at-law and attorney and counselor (or counsellor) at law . 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 does not have to be licensed to practice law or to have any other license from the government. The term "Power of Attorney" refers to the authority of an attorney-in-fact to act in the name of another person, and to the document signed to evidence that authority. By contrast an attorney at law. or lawyer, is 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" is generally used in this sense (and not to mean "attorney in fact"). The term "Attorney General" is used to designate the chief law enforcement officer of a state or other political jurisdiction. The attorney general is a lawyer representing the government, prosecuting criminal cases, defending the government in lawsuits against the government, and litigating in connection with consumer affairs. In common-law jurisdictions outside the United States, e.g. England, Canada, Australia, “attorney” is incorrect as a general term, and "lawyer " or "solicitor " is used instead. 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 . Once admitted to practice by the highest court of a state (a function sometimes administered by the state's bar association ), 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:
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. 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. One occasional exception is the television program Law Order. which sometimes shows the main characters researching at a computer late into the night, always using Westlaw, due to a contract between Westlaw and the show's producers. 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 or indeed, even a single mistake, in some instances 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 although many lawyers believe that civility is more commonplace in discovery than the unfortunate but well publicized exceptions. Some attorneys believe approximately 50% to 70% of all funds spent on legal services in the U.S. cover discovery costs. In addition, there are a large number of attorneys whose practice specializes in activities that never involve them in litigation, such as writing legal opinions, advising clients, drafting contracts, preparing tax strategies, and preparing and prosecuting filings with government agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service. the Securities and Exchange Commission. and the Patent and Trademark Office. It can be rare for such attorneys to appear in court, and even to wear a suit or a tie, though this reality is all but absent in media depictions of attorneys. A fair number of licensed attorneys are unemployed or underemployed, or float from one temporary assignment to another, doing nothing but poring through the discovery process. The relatively new phenomenon of many lawyers being unemployed, underemployed, or paid at relatively low wages is largely a consequence of changes actively pursued, including by the American Bar Association (ABA), starting in the 1960s. Many in the profession had determined that legal services would remain difficult or impossible to attain for the less well-off unless the supply of lawyers was increased relative to the demand for legal services. In sharp contrast with the medical profession and medical schools, the ABA has encouraged the creation and accreditation of new law schools since that time. As a result, the number of lawyers relative to the total population has more than doubled in the United States since 1970, from about one lawyer per 700 people to about one lawyer per 300 people, with the ratio continuing to rise. At the same time, the ABA and other organizations have fostered the rise of pro bono work, public service lawyering, and community lawyering, to try to extend the availability of legal services to all Americans. Government funding for public legal services at the federal and state levels has become significant. Still, the ABA estimated in 2000 that still only about one third of the total demand for legal services in the United States was being met. At the same time, the demand for high-paying legal services, particularly by large corporations, which was already being well met before the dramatic expansion of the lawyer population, has grown much less quickly than the supply of lawyers. Yet many lawyers are still struggling to find jobs. The result has been a much larger disparity in lawyer compensation. Many American attorneys limit their practices to specialized fields of law. Often dichotomies are drawn between different types of attorneys, but these are neither fixed nor formal lines. Examples include:
Despite these descriptions, some states sometimes forbid or discourage claims of specialization in particular areas of law unless the attorney has been certified by his or her state bar[1] or state board of legal specialization. Other states allow indirect indications of specialization (in forms of advertisements such as "our practice is limited to. ") but require that the lawyer state that he or she is not certified by a state board of legal specialization in the advertised practice area. Patent attorneys are allowed to advertise their specialization in all jurisdictions, since registration for patent law is administered by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) instead of a state-level body. Some states grant formal certifications recognizing specialties. In California, for example, bar certification is offered in family law, appellate practice, criminal law, bankruptcy, estate planning, immigration, taxation and workmen's compensation. Any attorney meeting the bar requirements in one of these fields may represent himself as a specialist. Similarly, Texas formally grants certification of specialization in the following fields: administrative law; business bankruptcy law; civil appellate law; civil trial law; consumer bankruptcy law; consumer commercial law; criminal law; estate planning probate law; family law; health law; immigration nationality law; juvenile law; labor employment law; oil, gas mineral law; personal injury trial law; real estate law; tax law; and workers' compensation law.[2] The vast majority of lawyers practicing in a particular field may typically not be certified as specialists in that field (and state board certification is not generally required to practice law in any field). For example, the State Bar of Texas (as of mid 2006) reported 77,056 persons licensed as attorneys in that state (excluding inactive members of the Bar) ref See factsheet entitled "State Bar of Texas Facts," from www.texasbar.com. /ref , while the Texas Board of Legal Specialization reported, at about the same time, only 8,303 Texas attorneys who were board certified in any specialty.[3] Indeed, of the 8,303 certified specialists in Texas, the highest number of attorneys certified in one specific field at that time was 1,775 (in personal injury trial law). Despite the relative large number of lawyers that presumably would handle divorce, adoption and child custody matters, Texas reported that of 77,056 attorneys, only 697 in the entire state were certified in family law (which is, arguably, the applicable specialty). Specialization in patent law is administered by the Office of Enrollment and Discipline of the USPTO, which imposes stringent requirements for applicants to become registered as patent attorneys or patent agents. 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. 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. 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 (J.D.), or Doctor of Jurisprudence. The J.D. degree is equivalent to (and at most law schools in the United States, has replaced) the older LL.B. or Bachelor of Laws degree. This can lead to some confusion, with two different names for equivalent professional degrees. As stated earlier, the degree of Juris Doctor is the equivalent of the formerly dispensed LL.B. or Bachelor of Laws degree. Additionally many law schools now have masters degree programs which award the LL.M. or Master of Laws degree and doctoral programs which grant the S.J.D./J.S.D or Doctor of Juridical Science degree (which latter degree does confer the title of "Doctor" upon its holder). Colleges such as Harvard University began requiring an undergraduate education as far back as 1896, in contravention to the earlier practice of awarding a law degree as an undergraduate venture (hence Bachelor of Laws or LL.B. degree). Many foreign educated attorneys who have LL.B. degrees come to the United States and obtain an LL.M. degree in comparative law, familiarizing themselves with American common law, from when they then take the bar exam in New York or California, which allows foreign attorneys with such degrees to sit for the test. The Paul M. Hebert Law Center at 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 degree is also known by the abbreviation J.S.D. at some U.S. schools, e.g. NYU Law School and Columbia Law School. The degree should not be confused with the "doctor of laws" degree, or LL.D. which is usually, but not always, awarded for honorary purposes. The S.J.D. or J.S.D. degree is very rarely awarded, and is generally only sought by attorneys holding exceptional credentials and a desire to enter legal academia. The degree is generally only offered at the very top law schools, which typically accept only 4 or 5 students into their program each year. Admission is limited to those who have achieved their J.D. and LL.M. degrees with distinction. Successful applicants usually have already published significant scholarly legal articles in their proposed area of study, and many have legal teaching experience prior to entering the program. 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. However, it is reminicsent of "teen court" programs that are expanding around the USA. In these programs, it is not law students, but high school students, that argue cases before a judge and sit on juries to decide penalties to other high school students who have agreed to be tried by the teen court in exchange for bypassing the regular court and having no criminal record created in the process, even if they are found responsible for a crime by the teen court. The punishment often includes community service, including sitting on juries in upcoming cases. [edit ] Illinois: The 711 licenseIn Illinois a student currently in good standing who has earned credits that represent at least three-fifths of the credits required for graduation may be eligible for a 711 license (based on Illinois Supreme Court Rule 711). A 711 license allows a student to: (1) Counsel with clients, negotiate in the settlement of claims, and engage in the preparation and drafting of legal instruments. (2) Appear in the trial courts and administrative tribunals subject to the following qualifications: (i) Appearances, pleadings, motions, and other documents to be filed with the court may be prepared by the student or graduate and may be signed by him with the accompanying designation "Senior Law Student" or "Law Graduate" but must also be signed by the supervising member of the bar. (ii) In criminal cases, in which the penalty may be imprisonment, in proceedings challenging sentences of imprisonment, and in civil or criminal contempt proceedings, the student or graduate may participate in pretrial, trial, and posttrial proceedings as an assistant of the supervising member of the bar, who shall be present and responsible for the conduct of the proceedings. (iii) In all other civil and criminal cases the student or graduate may conduct all pretrial, trial, and posttrial proceedings, and the supervising member of the bar need not be present. (3) He/She may prepare briefs, excerpts from the record, abstracts, and other documents filed in courts of review of the State, which may set forth the name of the student or graduate with the accompanying designation "Senior Law Student" or "Law Graduate" but must be filed in the name of the supervising member of the bar. A JD graduate of the College of Law may qualify for a 711 license if s/he (1) has not yet had an opportunity to take the first Bar examination scheduled after s/he graduates, or (2) has taken the Bar exam but has not received the results, or (3) has taken and passed the Bar examination but has not yet been sworn in as a member of the Illinois bar. A 711 license is not available for a student working for a private law firm. The license is available for work with (1) a legal aid bureau, legal assistance program, organization or clinic chartered by the State of Illinois or approved by a law school approved by the American Bar Association. (2) the Office of the Public Defender, or (3) a law office of the State or any of its subdivisions. 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 addition, a few areas of law, such as patent law. are mandated by the U.S. Constitution to be strictly under federal jurisdiction. In this case, state courts and bar associations are not allowed to restrict the practice of that field of law, and a patent attorney may freely advise clients as to patent matters anywhere in the jurisdiction of the United States with impunity, without regard to state court or bar association rules. Furthermore, prior to November 15, 1938. individuals could become registered as “patent attorneys” with the PTO without ever passing a state bar exam or going to law school. That status was grandfathered for patent attorneys registered prior to that date. This represents a holdover to the traditional meaning of the term “attorney” as “agent” or “attorney-in-fact”. There are still some living patent attorneys who became registered as patent attorneys before that date, as far back as 1934. Today, a non-lawyer can take and pass the patent bar. but he or she would be considered a patent agent . 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. This extends to the U.S. Constitution itself, which does not mention any requirement that a U.S. Supreme Court justice or other federal judge be a lawyer, although it appears that no non-lawyer has ever been appointed as a federal judge. 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, judges in the United States and Canada have occasionally been reported, even very recently, to order that a lawyer is not dressed appropriately and must return at a later date in proper attire – and to issue the lawyer a fine as if the lawyer had failed to show up for the hearing. 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:
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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