Lawyer
A lawyer or attorney at law is an individual licensed by the government to advise clients in legal matters and represent them in courts of law and other legal agencies. Most countries today require professional law advisors in their juridical systems. Lawyers have many names in different countries -- including "advocate," "attorney," "barrister," "counselor," and "solicitor" -- and many of these names indicate specific classes or ranks of lawyers.
Increasingly, in the U.S. in particular, lawyers have taken over functions that used to be (and in some countries, still are) performed by other professionals, such as the notary public or even by non-professionals.
History
Lawyers in the U.S.
In the United States, many states not only require that a person have an earned law degree from an A.B.A.-approved law school but also that the person have taken and passed a bar examination before being admitted to the bar of some state. It is frequently said that there are, per capita, more lawyers in the United States than in any other country. This statistic is misleading because it is difficult to compare numbers of law professionals between different legal systems because the roles of these professionals vary and some of the work that is done in the United States by a lawyer is performed by several different types of professionals in other countries.
A person who has a law degree but is not admitted to any bar is not a "lawyer" and is not allowed to use the title "Esquire" (but is allowed to use "Dr." before or "J.D.") after the name, but this technicality is not enforced in some jurisdictions. Engaging in the kind of work customarily done by lawyers without a valid, current license to do so is the "unauthorized practice of law," and in some jurisdictions the UPL rules are draconian -- 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, for example. Paradoxically, some jurisdictions will allow a non-lawyer to sit as a judge, in lower courts or in hearings by governmental agencies, even though a non-lawyer may not practice before these same courts.
Lawyers in the U.K.
In Great Britain, Australia, and several other common law countries, there are generally two kinds of lawyers - solicitors and barristers. Solicitors may practice before lower courts, but their main (and traditionally only) work is in legal work that other than court appearances, such as legal advice, conveyancing, wills. Barristers may practice before lower, superior and high courts. Traditionally (and still for major cases) both a solicitor (for advice) and a barrister (for representation) were required for court appearances.
- See also : Cross-examine
A lawyer is a freshwater fish (Pisces, Teleostei) related to the cods, with a species name of Lota lota. Also known as the burbot, ling, and eel-pout. Most common in streams and lakes of North America and Europe above 40° latitude.