If an attorney is a lawyer isn't it redundant to say "attorney-at-law"?
2006-10-17 04:17:54 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
yes it is .but it sounds more profeshtional.
2006-10-17 04:57:22 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Redundancy sneaks into languages as bits and pieces become obsolete. As others have pointed out, attorney-at-law was at one time a necessary distinction, since the phrase attorney-in-fact was in common use. Kei-tsup was an Indonesian fish sauce that the Dutch colonists to the East Indes brought back to Europe. It became known as Ketchup or Catsup. It was made from a variety of lightly fermented items, including prunes. Because f the profusion of different types of sauces all called Ketchup, the phrase Tomato Ketchup was not a redundancy. However, the popularity of Tomato Ketchup pushed all others off the market shelves. Now Tomato Ketchup sounds like a redundancy.
2006-10-17 07:32:33 · answer #2 · answered by Rico Toasterman JPA 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was wondering the same thing. I asked a question once about the difference between "lawyer" and "attorney." I guess it just depends on which state you're in as to which word is used. They mean the same thing. Attorney-at-law. Yeah. Redundant.
2006-10-17 04:26:15 · answer #3 · answered by SassySours 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
"attorney" literally means "representative" thus "attorney-at-law" means your legal representative. because attorneys have become popular mainly for legal representation, the assumption is that all attorneys are attorneys-at-law, so your definition of "attorney" as a synonym for "lawyer" is a vernacular corruption, not a redundancy. Lawyer-at-law would be redundant.
2006-10-17 04:26:52 · answer #4 · answered by nuejerz 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
That's like asking why an M.D. is "Medical Doctor." Actually, it is a distinction from "Attorney-in-fact," which is a person who holds power of attorney to represent another party.
2006-10-17 04:27:51 · answer #5 · answered by Brian M 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
i think the "at-law" part refers that he/she is for public hire. There are many lawyers who are in-house counsel for large corporations, non profit organizations, and other concerns which do not use the "at-law" part.
2006-10-17 04:25:54 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
ok
2006-10-17 12:33:53 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋