ATTORNEY

lawyer, attorney

(noun) a professional person authorized to practice law; conducts lawsuits or gives legal advice

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

attorney (plural attorneys)

(US) A lawyer; one who advises or represents others in legal matters as a profession.

(UK 19th century and earlier) One such who practised in the courts of the common law (cf solicitor, proctor).

(UK, 20th century and later, rare, usually pejorative) A solicitor.

(obsolete, outside, set phrases) An agent or representative authorized to act on someone else's behalf.

(Philippines) A title given to lawyers and notaries public, or those holders by profession who also do other jobs. Usually capitalized or abbreviated as Atty.

Usage notes

• In the "agent" sense, the word is now used to refer to nonlawyers usually only in fixed phrases such as attorney-in-fact or power of attorney.

Synonyms

• mouthpiece (slang)

• advocate

Verb

attorney (third-person singular simple present attorneys, present participle attorneying, simple past and past participle attorneyed)

(rare) To work as a legal attorney.

(rare) To provide with a legal attorney.

Source: Wiktionary


At*tor"ney, n.; pl. Attorneys. Etym: [OE. aturneye, OF. atorné, p. p. of atorner: cf. LL. atturnatus, attornatus, fr. attornare. See Attorn.]

1. A substitute; a proxy; an agent. [Obs.] And will have no attorney but myself. Shak.

2. (Law) (a) One who is legally appointed by another to transact any business for him; an attorney in fact. (b) A legal agent qualified to act for suitors and defendants in legal proceedings; an attorney at law.

Note: An attorney is either public or private. A private attorney, or an attorney in fact, is a person appointed by another, by a letter or power of attorney, to transact any business for him out of court; but in a more extended sense, this class includes any agent employed in any business, or to do any act in pais, for another. A public attorney, or attorney at law, is a practitioner in a court of law, legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in such court, on the retainer of clients. Bouvier.

– The attorney at law answers to the procurator of the civilians, to the solicitor in chancery, and to the proctor in the ecclesiastical and admiralty courts, and all of these are comprehended under the more general term lawyer. In Great Britain and in some states of the United States, attorneys are distinguished from counselors in that the business of the former is to carry on the practical and formal parts of the suit. In many states of the United States however, no such distinction exists. In England, since 1873, attorneys at law are by statute called solicitors. A power, letter, or warrant, of attorney, a written authority from one person empowering another to transact business for him.

At*tor"ney, v. t.

Definition: To perform by proxy; to employ as a proxy. [Obs.] Shak.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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