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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,385
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,385 |
What's the difference between a "lawyer" and an "attorney"?
Well, for one thing, who ever heard of an "attorney's joke"?
Some 400 years ago, Shakespeare wrote: "Why does a hearse horse snicker hauling a lawyer's bones?" Is this where it all began?
Fast forward to December 2002. My brother emailed me this gem last week:
Lawyers are like Slinkies . . . not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs.
My personal favorite: "What's black and brown and looks good on a lawyer?" Answer: "A doberman pincer."
Perhaps lawyers have a better sense of humor than attorneys.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear Plutarch: An unexpected Christmas present to see you post again.
From eytymological dictionary online:
attorney - c.1303, from O.Fr. aturne "(one) appointed,"
pp. of aturner "to decree, assign, appoint," from a- "to" +
turner "turn." The sense is of "one appointed to represent
another's interests." In English law, a legal agent in the courts
of Common Law who prepares the cases for a barrister,
who pleads them (the equivalent of a solicitor in Chancery).
So much a term of contempt in England that it was
abolished by the Judicature Act of 1873 in favor of
solicitor. Double -t- is a mistaken 15c. attempt to restore a
non-existent L. original. Attorney general first recorded
1533 in sense of "legal officer of the state," from Fr., hence
the odd plural (subject first, adjective second).
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 872
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 872 |
Hey Plutarch, Long time no see, Merry Christmas. I agree. I had a long time friend who was a lawyer and not an attorney. He became guilty of a minor infraction of legal procedure. He hired an attorney to for his defence - Alan Dershowitz. After 400,000 dollars, and a year and a half in federal prison, he got out. Lawyers seldom go to jail, Attorneys never do. Merry Christmas to all good honest lawyers, and an un-merry Christmas to those attorneys who suck blood money from the poor. 
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 322
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 322 |
A friend of mine keeps saying, "It's the 99% of bad lawyers who ruin it for the other 1%" -- ha ha ha!
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
Just to throw a stone in the stew:
Years ago, I was told anyone can be an attorney since an attorney is someone appointed by a person to represent them. For example, at my neighbor's request, I could call the bank and negotiate for my neighbor by saying "I am acting for Mrs Jones."
HOWEVER : to be a lawyer or call yourself one you must go to Law School, and be admitted to the Bar before practicing law.
It may be it is different from when I was told..... but does anyone know for sure?
In years past you used to have a choice betwen "reading the law" by working in a lawyer's office for several years as a paid clerk while studying with that lawyer, then taking the bar exam - OR - going to law school. But. I do not know of any state that currently allows you to read the law and then take the bar exam....you have to go to law school .
Hmmmm, another option for the financially challenged down the tubes.
Where IS Sparteye? Still recovering from Christmas?
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
anyone can be an attorney
There is power of attorney.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Yes, indeed Faldage. It was a great help to me when my wife was terminally ill to have my son empowered to handle things I could not because of my deafness. And now my daughter is similarly empowere to handle my financial problems. Here's a URL about how to get it: http://www.legalzoom.com/legalwiz/powerofattorney/poa_procedure.htmlY
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 1
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 1 |
Any one who is legally empowered to act on behalf of someone else may call themselves an attorney --- "as in being given the power of attorney."
A lawyer must have a law degree and a professional license.
A lawyer can be an attorney, but an attorney can't always be a lawyer.
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
Heaven's to Betsy... a kupuna amongst us!
Lately the word has come to mean an older person deserving of respect also generally an older person with practical knowledge to impart to others.
However in the Pukui-Elbert dictionary the word kupuna is defined thus : "Demigod or culture hero, especially a supernatural being possessing several forms as Kama'pua'a and Laenihi); one possessing mana
{mana meqaning supernatural or divine power} If - indeed - you are Kupuna then I send my aloha and pili'i(respect.)
However if you just pulled this name out of the air I suggest you reconsider, as claiming Kupuna status without deserving it can be a spiritualy dangerous thing.
Hauoli Makahiki Hao!
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742 |
It sounds not unlike the Maaori tipuna, used of any ancestor, though not normally of living ancestors. It too, has deep spiritual signifcance. The call that welcomes guests onto the marae always invites the departed tipuna to come first.
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