Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A person who is legally qualified and licensed to represent a person in a legal matter, such as a transaction or lawsuit.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To perform by proxy.
- To employ as a proxy.
- noun The appointment of another to act in one's stead; the act of naming an attorney: now used only in the following phrase.
- noun One who is appointed by another to act in his place or stead; a proxy.
- noun Specifically In law, one who is appointed or admitted in the place of another to transact any business for him.
- noun The general supervisor or manager of a plantation. [British West Indies.]
- noun In United States law, the certificate of the court admitting an attorney to practise, which testifies that the attorney has qualified and taken his oath of office.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb obsolete To perform by proxy; to employ as a proxy.
- noun obsolete A substitute; a proxy; an agent.
- noun One who is legally appointed by another to transact any business for him; an
attorney in fact . - noun A legal agent qualified to act for suitors and defendants in legal proceedings; an
attorney at law . - noun a written authority from one person empowering another to transact business for him.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun US A
lawyer ; one whoadvises orrepresents others inlegal matters as aprofession . - noun An
agent orrepresentative authorized toact on someoneelse 'sbehalf .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a professional person authorized to practice law; conducts lawsuits or gives legal advice
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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They hear all complaints brought before them against persons for crimes and breaches of the peace, and examine witnesses who appear to testify; and when it is requested, they have the assistance and advice of the state's attorney; or as he is called in some states, the _district attorney_, or
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As all crimes and breaches of the peace are considered as committed against the state, and prosecuted in its name, this attorney is sometimes called _state's attorney_.
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This attorney is a good tax attorney, but is a federal practitioner and not as familiar with state issues as one would wish.
Amnesty, but a real wallop if you don't come clean (Jack Bog's Blog) 2009
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At the end of the day, we feel more secure because the federal prison population has swelled ever so slightly with the occasional inclusion of a title attorney, mortgage broker, or real estate investor.
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(A) a court in which the attorney is authorized to practice; or
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Near each courthouse is a title attorney that duplicates the county records of all transactions so he can readily update any abstract presented tohim.
The Volokh Conspiracy » Increasing Competition in the Real Estate Industry: 2007
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From there, supposedly they will let you call your attorney and your attorney is supposedly able to get you out of jail into a hotel.
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The first day I hired my title attorney I mentioned to her that I wanted my mother to be on the deed in order to get the taxes reduced.
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Owens also said he intends to end what he calls the attorney general's "slush fund" -- back taxes, fraud and other collections pursued by the office, a portion of which are retained by the office for its uses.
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Never mind that an "attorney" is nothing more than a lawyer who wants to sound more important than he really is.
Types of Lawyers 2005
burntsox commented on the word attorney
I think "attorney" is somewhat pretentious, as compared to "lawyer." There is a difference: a lawyer is one who practices law, while an attorney is one who represents someone.
But it bugs me when people opt for the more hoity-toity. "Attorney" vs. "lawyer." "I" instead of "me."
"Physician" over "doctor" (though on that one the words are truly indistinguishable and, if anything, physican is more precise in the medical field).
December 18, 2007
kewpid commented on the word attorney
You are right burntsox. Though the preference for Attorney seems to be an American trend.
In Australia the split is between Solicitor vs. Barrister, as the profession is not fused over here.
December 18, 2007
burntsox commented on the word attorney
lol - I'd say "solicitor" and "barrister" BOTH sound pretentious to my American ear!
December 18, 2007
sonofgroucho commented on the word attorney
What nationality is your other ear?
December 18, 2007
kewpid commented on the word attorney
Really? Solicitor sounds very ordinary to me. Though I'm probably just used to hearing it.
December 18, 2007
sarra commented on the word attorney
Solicitor and barrister are standard for me too, as I'm familiar (well—to an only pedestrian degree!) with the English law system, within which those are the two defined branches of the profession. I'd never heard attorney till I started to come more into contact with American culture through the media.
burntsox may be interested to know that there's a (self-referential in this case) term for such hoity-toitiness: auxesis
December 18, 2007
burntsox commented on the word attorney
Thank you for auxesis - that's why I come to wordie!
And, Groucho, my other ear is tone deaf to all cultures!
December 20, 2007