Attorney

Attorney  

An Attorney At Law (Or Attorney-At-Law) In The United States Is A Practitioner In A Court Of Law Who Is Legally Qualified To Prosecute And Defend Actions In Such Court On The Retainer Of Clients. Alternative Terms Include Counselor (Or Counsellor-At-Law) And Lawyer. As Of April 2011, There Were 1,225,452 Licensed Attorneys In The United States.
The United States Legal System Does Not Draw A Distinction Between Lawyers Who Plead In Court And Those Who Do Not, Unlike Many Other Common Law Jurisdictions (Such As Those Of The United Kingdom Which Distinguishes Between Solicitors Who Do Not Plead In Court And The Barristers Of The English & Welsh System And Advocates Of The Scottish System Who Do Plead In Court), And Civil Law Jurisdictions (Such As Italy And France, Which Distinguish Between Advocates And Civil Law Notaries). An Additional Factor Which Differentiates The American Legal System From Other Countries Is That There Is No Delegation Of Routine Work To Notaries Public.
Attorneys May Use The Post-Nominal Letters Esq., The Abbreviated Form Of The Word Esquire.

Lake Oswego Elder Law Attorney Discusses

Practice of law   

Once Admitted To Practice By The Highest Court Of A State (The State Supreme Court), A Function Sometimes Administered By The State's Bar Association, An American Attorney May File Legal Pleadings And Argue Cases In That State Court, Provide Legal Advice To Clients And Draft Important Legal Instruments Such As Wills, Trusts, Deeds And Contracts.
Arguing Cases In The Federal Courts Requires Separate Admission.
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.
Actions That May Be Performed By Lawyers Are Referred To As The Practice Of Law. Practicing Law Includes Interviewing A Client To Identify The Legal Question, Analyzing The Question, Researching Relevant Law, Devising Legal Solutions To Problems And Executing Such Solutions Through Specific Tasks Such As Drafting A Contract Or Filing A Motion With A Court.
Most Academic Legal Training Is Directed To Identifying Legal Issues, Researching Facts And Law As Well As Arguing Both The Facts And Law In Favor Of Either Side In Any Case.
For Several Years, Law Schools Have Sent Through Far More Students Than New Job Openings Have Become Available. This Leads To Attorneys (Once They Pass The Bar) Seeking Work In Other Occupations, Either By Choice Or By The Lack Of Employment Opportunities. This Has Led To A Market In Legal Temps Or Contract Attorneys, Where Attorneys Spend A Certain Period Of Time Working On Tasks Such As Discovery For A Case.

Specialization   

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:

•    Outside Counsel (Law Firms) V. In-House Counsel (Corporate Legal Department)

•    Plaintiff V. Defense Attorneys (Some Attorneys Do Both Plaintiff And Defense Work, Others Only Handle Certain Types Of Cases Like Personal Injury, Business Etc.)

•    Transactional (Or "Office Practice") Attorneys (Who Negotiate And Draft Documents And Advise Clients, Rarely Going To Court) V. Litigators (Who Advise Clients In The Context Of Legal Disputes Both In And Out Of Court, Including Lawsuits, Arbitrations And Negotiated Settlements)

•    Trial Attorneys (Who Argue The Facts, Such As The Late Johnnie Cochran) V. Appellate Attorneys (Who Argue The Law, Such As David Boies)

Despite These Descriptions, Some States Forbid Or Discourage Claims Of Specialization In Particular Areas Of Law Unless The Attorney Has Been Certified By His Or Her State Bar Or State Board Of Legal Specialization. Other States Allow Indirect Indications Of Specialization (In The Form Of Advertisement Language Such As "Our Practice Is Limited To . . ."), But Require That The Lawyer States 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 Workers' Compensation. Any Attorney Meeting The Bar Requirements In One Of These Fields May Represent Himself As A Specialist. The State Bar Of Texas, For Example, Formally Grants Certification Of Specialization In 21 Select Areas Of Law.

 The 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), 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. 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 Mid-Size Firms, With Anywhere From 50 To 200 Attorneys And Since The 1970s, Some Law Firms Have Merged To Form Giant Firms With 1,000 Attorneys Or More.

However, Whether A Law Firm Is Large Or Small Is Also A Relative Concept Depending On The Size Of The Community Served. A Law Firm With Six Attorneys In A Small Community May Be Considered A Large Firm For That Area. Because Of Conflict Of Interest Rules, The Maximum Size Of A Law Firm Is Dependent Upon The Size Of The Population It Serves. Conflict Of Interest Rules Prevent One Attorney In A Law Firm From, For Example, Representing A Client In Litigation That Has An Adverse Interest To The Interests Of Another Client Represented By A Different Attorney In The Same Law Firm. A 2012 Survey Conducted By Lexisnexis Martindale-Hubbell Determined 58 Million Consumers In The U.S. Sought An Attorney In The Last Year And That 76 Percent Of Consumers Used The Internet To Search For An Attorney.

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 Having Completed At Least Half Of Their Law Education, Having Taken Or Be Taking The Law School's Ethics Class And Being 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, Massachusetts—Like Almost All Other States—Does Not Allow A First Year Law Student To Argue A Case In Court.
Additionally, Most States Have Rules Allowing Law Students In Their Third And Final Year To Practise On A Limited Basis While Under The Direct Supervision Of A Licensed Attorney. These Laws Vary From State To State. While Many States Are Very Strict, Some States Like Kansas And Illinois Provide Opportunities For Law Students To Argue Cases In Trials.