Harold Ford Jr. called self a lawyer but did not pass bar exam

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.

"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."

"We’re a month out from the election, and the Republicans and Mr. Corker still are not talking about the issues," he said.

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.

I've sat on some of those Tn Bar Assn boards and I'm quite certain that no letter would be sent to anyone who made the comments that are quoted in the article. If there is nothing more than this one comment this really is a non-issue.

I've observed Ford and listened to him. Do not underestimate him. He is very intelligent and running an excellent campaign. He may win. I'm going to do my best to see to it that everyone I know votes against him.

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