The lawyer in the US
This is the first in a series of posts about the US legal system. Many of the cases and statutes that we study in the IP and IT law fields originate in the US, and I thought I’d do a series on different aspects of the legal system for those unfamiliar with it. These posts are also based on the most “Frequently Asked Questions” about the United States when one is a US attorney living abroad.
Advocate and solicitor rolled into one
The US system, unlike systems such as Scotland, does not separate out legal representatives who can appear in court from those who engage in other legal work. Any appropriately licensed US attorney can appear in court — many however limit their practice to only litigation (contentious) or only transactional (non-contentious) practice. This, however, is a personal decision. There is no legal distinction between calling oneself an “attorney”, a “lawyer” or even “attorney and counsellor at law”.
Legal education
Lawyers, as we will explore, are mostly regulated state-by-state and so there are many different rules for what it takes to become a lawyer. There are, however, some generalisations about how one becomes a lawyer in the US:
- An undergraduate (or first) degree in any field. Unlike in England and Wales, in the United States these degrees generally last at least four years.
- A three year postgraduate legal education at an ABA accredited university. The degree granted is called a ‘JD’ and stands for ‘Jurisdoctor’ or ‘Doctor of Jurisprudence’.
- An exam by the state licensing authority called the bar exam. What is on the exam, and how long it lasts, varies between state to state.
Once he or she passes the exam and pays all necessary fees and dues, generally he or she is licensed to practice law within that specific jurisdiction. You’ll note that there is no traineeship nor a separate “Legal Practice Course”, as there is in many other jurisdictions, including Scotland.
Where can lawyers practice?
Licensing of lawyers is on a state-by-state basis, and generally lawyers cannot practice law in another state without a license for that state. Admission to the other state can sometimes be made “on motion”, whereby a practicing lawyer with sufficient experience in one state can be allowed into another without taking the bar exam. The courts and agencies in the Federal system generally do not have their own bar exams, though one exception is the USPTO, mentioned below. They do generally require however that lawyers appearing before their courts be licensed in a state and be admitted before their court.
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), for example, has its own regulations as to who may be licensed to practice before its office when “prosecuting patents” (the back and forth trying to get a patent to issue). For more, see the USPTO Office of Enrollment and Discipline.
Some additional links
- University of Texas School of Law.
- Local Rule AT-1, Admission and Discipline of Attorneys - Western District of Texas (Federal Court).
- Texas State Board of Law Examiners, “Rules Governing Admission to the Bar of Texas adopted by the Supreme Court of Texas“.
- NCBE, Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements.
This last one is especially recommended for those wanting more details on lawyers within the US system.
- US Dept. of State, Outline of the U.S. Legal System, Ch. 4 “Lawyers, Litigants, and Interest Groups in the Judicial Process”
