New York Lawyer
October 2, 2001

Q:
If you have a JD but have not passed the bar exam, can you hold yourself out as an attorney or a lawyer?

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A:
Some years ago I was asked to write a marketing brochure for a law firm, and I thought it behooved me to learn the difference between an attorney and a lawyer. Most legal dictionaries defined an attorney -- and I'm paraphrasing here -- as a qualified member of the bar who formally represents other peoples' interests in some way. A lawyer was defined as someone "learned in the law." Under this definition, a law professor might be a lawyer, but not an attorney.

Ergo, if you have not been admitted the bar, you technically may be a lawyer, but you are not -- and may not hold yourself out to be -- an attorney. Frankly, to avoid misunderstandings and allegations of fraud, until passing the bar I would describe myself as a law school graduate or JD, but not as a lawyer.

Those not admitted to the bar may not enter an appearance of record in any court nor execute pleadings or correspondence that suggests case responsibility or implies an attorney-client or other legal fiduciary relationship. For many positions, this may not be a bar to employment. If your employer entrusts you with the responsibility, you can draft contracts, wills or other instruments, undertake legal research, oversee litigation support or discovery (as long as you don't sign pleadings), summarize depositions, perform document review, create trial exhibits, locate and prep expert witnesses and generally make yourself useful in a law-related kind of way. If this sounds like the scope of authority accorded a paralegal, well, if the shoe fits . . .

Many law firms employ new law school graduates as glorified paralegals, hoping to get some billable hours out of 'em as they study for the bar exam. Frequently, young associates who fail the exam once will be given another chance to pass the test before being shown the door.

Sincerely,
Douglas B. Richardson
President, The Richardson Group