a person who is trained and qualified to advise people about the law and to represent them in court, and to write legal documents
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- Lawyer is a general term for a person who is qualified to advise people about the law, to prepare legal documents for them, and/or to represent them in a court of law.
- Attorney is a more formal word used for a lawyer and is used especially in job titles:district attorney
- Counsel is the formal legal word used for a lawyer who is representing someone in court:counsel for the prosecution
- After a lawyer passes the exam allowing him or her to represent someone in court in a particular state, you say that he or she has passed the bar or is a member of the bar in that state.
Check pronunciation: lawyer