Lawyer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


English barrister
A lawyer is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law." Black's Law Dictionary, p. 799 (5th ed. 1979). Law is a theoretical and abstract discipline. Working as a lawyer represents the practical application of legal theory and knowledge to solve real problems or to advance the interests of those who retain (i.e., hire) lawyers for legal services.

The role of the lawyer varies significantly across legal jurisdictions, and therefore can be treated here in only the most general terms. More information is available in country-specific articles

Terminology
In practice, legal jurisdictions exercise their sovereign right to determine who is a lawyer; as a result, the meaning of the term "lawyer" may vary from place to place.

• In Australia, the word "lawyer" is used to refer to both barristers and solicitors (whether in private practice or practising as corporate in-house counsel) but not people who do not practice the law.
• In Britain, "lawyer" is used loosely to refer to a broad variety of law-trained persons. It includes practitioners such as barristers, solicitors, and legal executives; and people who are involved with the law but do not practice it on behalf of individual clients, such as judges, law clerks, and legislators.
• In Canada, the word "lawyer" only refers to individuals who have been called to the bar. They may also be known as "barristers and solicitors", but should not be referred to as "attorneys", as that word has a different meaning under Canadian law.
• In the United States of America, the term generally refers to attorneys who may practice law.
• Other nations tend to have comparable terms for the analogous concept