Attorney at law

An attorney at law in the United States is a professional person authorized to practice law. An attorney is a practitioner in a court of law who is legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in such court on the retainer of clients. Alternative terms include attorney-at-law, attorney and counselor at law, attorney, and lawyer. An attorney at law conducts lawsuits or gives legal advice.

The U.S. legal system has a united legal profession, and does not draw a distinction between lawyers who plead in court and those who do not. Many other common law jurisdictions, as well as some civil law jurisdictions, have a separation, such as the solicitor and barrister-advocate split in the United Kingdom. There is also no delegation of routine work to notaries public or their civil law equivalent in the American system. An attorney can also be person legally appointed by another to act as his or her agent in the transaction of business, specifically one qualified and licensed to act for plaintiffs and defendants in legal proceedings.