Posted on 10/06/2006 6:06:43 AM PDT by falcon1966
Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Harold Ford Jr. referred to himself as a lawyer earlier this week, but the congressman has not passed the bar exam.
Michael Powell, senior adviser to the Ford campaign, said U.S. Rep. Ford took the Tennessee bar exam in February 1997 and failed. He said that was the only time Rep. Ford has taken the test.
Rep. Ford, of Memphis, got his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1996, according to his congressional Web site.
He said Tuesday during a meeting with Chattanooga Times Free Press editors and reporters that Republican opponent Bob Corker has said the next senator should be a businessman and not a lawyer.
"I told Senator (Lamar) Alexander, I said, ‘I won’t hold it against you if I’m elected, and there’s two lawyers in the delegation who try their hardest to work through the issues," Rep. Ford said.
Corker campaign spokesman Todd Womack said, "If Congressman Ford will stretch the truth about his own resume, what else will he stretch the truth about?" Mr. Powell said it is his understanding that Rep. Ford was joking when he made reference to being a lawyer during Tuesday’s meeting.
"He has never held himself out as a lawyer," Mr. Powell said.
He said President Bush has referred to Rep. Ford as a lawyer.
"I think it makes sense to send somebody up to Washington who’s not a lawyer," President Bush said at a Nashville fundraiser in late August, according to a transcript. "Nothing wrong with lawyers, we got a lot of them up there."
Mr. Powell said the GOP is finding "petty" things to talk about.
"We’re a month out from the election, and the Republicans and Mr. Corker still are not talking about the issues," he said.
lawyer, defined:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=define%3Alawyer
The definitions use the words "licensed", "authorized" and "certified" to practice law.
Possession of a J.D. does not make one a lawyer.
I thought a lawyer was able to practice law and call themselves a lawyer but could not speak or represent for clients in court unless they passed the bar exam, qualifying for the 'attorney' title. They can act as legal counsel, but not as an attorney. Am I wrong?
"Meaningless. If you have a JD you are a lawyer. The Bar only permits somebody who is already a lawyer to appear and speak in court. There are thousands of lawyers who spend their lives in research, teaching, contracts, etc but neber go near litigation."
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Uh, no. If you have a JD, you have a JD. Period. A lawyer is one who is licensed to practice law. For that you must pass or be waived into the Bar in the state(s) which you practice. Does not matter if you are a defense atty who has an office at the courthouse, or a transactional lawyer who lives on the 34th floor of a skyscraper. You must have a law license to practice any kind of law in that state. It is illegal to pass yourself off as a lawyer to a client if you don't have a license.
Like the "paralawyer" in the Grisham book.
Yes, If you work for a PE engineer, there is no problem. You cannot sell your services as an engineer unless you are a PE.
The Corker campaign needs to seize on this and make Ford look like a liar.
The difference? Gee, I dunno, sorry.
Not sure why you are making excuses for Ford. Having taken the Bar (and passed the first time) I agree the Bar is not an intelligence test. He should not be critcized for that. But every 1st year law student, having taken Professional Responsibility, knows you simply cannot call yourself a lawyer unless you have a license which says you are. Certainly Ford knows that, but he still tries to pass himself off as a lawyer. And what for? Is he really going to get an extra vote or two if he were a lawyer? Heck, I'm thinking it might cost him a couple votes.
There is no difference between an attorney and a lawyer or counsel, etc.
That's ok.... most Dems. don't pass the bar.
Here is the bottom line now in all 50 states, if you have not passed a bar exam, you are not licensed to practice law. It is illegal to do so or to hold yourself out as qualified to give legal advice and counsel. Under no circumstances could you properly call yourself "legal counse." If someone is unlicensed and is engaging in any activity that smacks of giving legal advice and being qualified to do so, they can be charged.
The legal profession is a huge industry and this has as much or more to do with protecting that industry as it does with protecting the public from the unqualified.
"I've known lots of people who went to law school and worked ...who didn't take the bar but still referred to themselves as lawyers. Were they wrong to do that?"
Could be seen as practicing without a license.
Would you pay a ticket from someone who graduated from the police acadamy but "never became a cop"?
That would be funny if the Corker campaign could parallel Ford with the Danny DeVito "paralawyer" character in the Rainmaker.
You said: Meaningless. If you have a JD you are a lawyer. The Bar only permits somebody who is already a lawyer to appear and speak in court. There are thousands of lawyers who spend their lives in research, teaching, contracts, etc but neber go near litigation.
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I don't know about other states, but in NC one has to be a licensed member of the State Bar to practice law (which is what a lawyer does). Practicing law includes appearing in Courts on behalf of others, but it is not limited to that. Many, probably most, lawyers do not practice in courts or other tribunals. Some, for example, draft wills and other estate planning documents. In NC one must be a licensed member of the State Bar to do so.
I have defended pension plan advisors charged with the unauthorized practice of law in hearings before the State Bar Unauthorized Practice Committee.
I think one must practice law to call himself a lawyer, and in this state one must be admitted to practice in order to do that.
All of that said, I am not sure that Ford actually called himself a lawyer in the quotes I saw, but I read it rather quickly.
Sort of like Al Gore - who never received so much as a Bachelor's degree........
JFK jr. should have studied harder for his bar exam and especially hard for his instrument rating testing.
And not too smart. It is amazing to me that he managed to graduate from UofM Law School, one of the best in the country, and not pass the Tennessee Bar, not one of the country's more difficult. It makes me wonder if there wasn't some "affirmative action" going on at the law school.
Ted Kennedy hasn't "passed" many bars. Probably lived in a few?
On the other hand, a person can be an accountant without being a CPA.
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