attorney, noun

Origin:
EnglishShow more Special sense of general English.
A lawyer, usually a member of a practice, who handles matters such as cases in the lower courts, conveyancing, and the drawing up of legal documents, as well as briefing an advocate in any matter to be dealt with in the Supreme Court.
Note:
Cf. British English ‘solicitor’.
1846 Natal Witness 6 Mar.These are to certify that Robert Lester, Esq., has been duly admitted and enrolled to practise as an Advocate and Attorney before the District Court of Natal.
1846 Natal Witness 13 Mar.A short discussion took place in respect of the propriety of one attorney preparing his brief and handing it to another to act as advocate.
1924 G. Baumann in Baumann & Bright Lost Republic (1940) 97The attorney for the opposition was Mr Abraham Fischer, the one lawyer in the Free State who had been eminently successful in all land cases.
1936 E. Rosenthal Old-Time Survivals 30Attorneys close their offices, the courts only sit in matters of great urgency, and everybody concentrates on holidaying.
1945 Wille & Millin Mercantile Law of S. Afr. 65Where an attorney was said to have procured a partnership with his client by the exercise of undue influence..the client was held disentitled to claim the attorney’s share of the profits.
1950 H. Gibbs Twilight in S. Afr. 190In 1914 he entered the Civil Service; three years later he joined a firm of attorneys; in 1918 he became an advocate.
1958 B. Bennett This Was a Man 14Upington did not have to sit in his office..waiting for the brief that never seemed to come..until an attorney’s knock on the door started him on the road to fame and fortune.
1960 C. Hooper Brief Authority 186The women..are to be legally defended. The attorney is a Mrs Muller.
1982 G. Randell Gentlemen of Law 27Grahamstown Supreme Court cases in which he was the instructing attorney...He certainly took pains to ensure that the advocate he briefed was in his opinion the right man for the job.
1990 Weekend Post 27 Oct. 11Advocates and attorneys belong to separate professions. Attorneys have ‘rights of audience’ only in magistrate’s courts and are denied the right to appear in Supreme Courts, which is held exclusively by advocates. The corollary is that an advocate or counsel may not offer their services directly to the public and may only accept briefs or instructions in any legal matter from an attorney...Attorneys are general practitioners, concerned with drafting documents and advice, conveyancing transactions and preparing cases for trial.
1992 C. Rickard in Weekly Mail 9 Oct. 13Against the background of the unedifying squabble between advocates and attorneys about who may appear in the supreme court..[he] argues that the new Bill (sc. Admission of Advocates Amendment Bill 1992) is unnecessary since existing legislation allows attorneys temporary rights of appearance under certain circumstances.
A lawyer, usually a member of a practice, who handles matters such as cases in the lower courts, conveyancing, and the drawing up of legal documents, as well as briefing an advocate in any matter to be dealt with in the Supreme Court.
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Attaqua, plural nounpl. n.au, interjectionint.
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