Attorney - An agent put in place by another to manage particular
affairs of the principal. An attorney in fact is an agent who
conducts business under authority that is controlled and limited
by a written document called a letter, or power, of attorney granted
by the principal.
An attorney at law is an officer of a court of law authorized
to represent the person employing him (the client) in legal proceedings.
England retains the distinction between the attorney as agent,
the solicitor , who deals directly with the client but does not
act as an advocate in court, and the attorney as pleader, the
barrister (called advocate in Scotland), who presents the case
in court. Most senior and distinguished barristers are designated
King's (Queen's) counsel. The distinction between agent and pleader
also exists in Europe.
In the United States, a similar distinction was formerly made
in some states between a counselor at law, who argued the case
in court, and an attorney, who prepared the case but did not argue
it; but that distinction has now generally disappeared. Today
an attorney at law is authorized to exercise all the functions
of a practicing lawyer. The growth of large business corporations,
beginning in the 19th cent., has brought into existence a large
group of attorneys who rarely or never act as trial lawyers yet
are among the most influential members of the profession. |
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