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To: Dark Skies
I've known lots of people who went to law school and worked as tax accountants, corporate lawyers, and investment bankers who didn't take the bar but still referred to themselves as lawyers. Were they wrong to do that?

The answer is, "it depends." If an individual passed the bar in one state, moved to another, and didn't take and pass the bar in the second state, then he might or might no be able to hold himself out as a lawyer, depending on that state's rules. The general rule I've seen in my career as a lawyer, that's usually adopted by corporations and the Federal Government is that a lawyer licensed in one state can refer to himself as as lawyer in another state where he's not licensed, provided he's at least licensed in one state. In Tennessee, for example, the "practice of law" consists of engaging in the business of representing members of the public. Thus, a corporation or government agency can have an attorney, who's licensed in another state, but not in Tennessee, on its staff who who performs legal work for it and represents it as a lawyer, provided that attorney does not engage in the business of law. The big, bright line is that the attorney must be licensed in at least one state; if he's not licensed, he's not a lawyer.

101 posted on 10/06/2006 8:50:34 AM PDT by libstripper (!!)
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To: libstripper

Excellent post. Thx!


102 posted on 10/06/2006 8:55:16 AM PDT by Dark Skies (Allah sez "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.")
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