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Engaging in the kind of work customarily done by lawyers, without a valid, current license to do so, is the "unauthorized practice of law", which is punishable as a crime in most jurisdictions. In some jurisdictions, the definition of the practice of law is quite strict; persons have been successfully prosecuted for publishing do-it-yourself will forms and for representing special-education children in federal proceedings as specifically allowed by federal law.
A person who has a J.D. but is not admitted to any bar is not a lawyer. However, some courts allow law students to act as "certified student attorneys" after the satisfactory completion of their first year of law school and the completion of particular second- and third-year courses such as Evidence.
Paradoxically, some jurisdictions will allow a non-lawyer to sit as a judge, usually in lower courts or in hearings by governmental agencies, even though a non-lawyer may not practice before these same courts.
Unlike their counterparts in other common law jurisdictions, American attorneys are not required to wear wigs or any other obsolete items of clothing when they appear in court. They are expected to wear contemporary business suits, preferably in dark conservative colors. This requirement has reportedly led to comical sharing arrangements among solo practitioners too poor to afford a decent suit.
Furthermore, since the 1990s, some law firms have slightly relaxed their dress codes, especially in certain Western states. A joke about the casual culture of Hawaii is that the only time a Hawaiian lawyer wears a suit is when he goes to court.
The one big exception is the United States Solicitor General, who traditionally argues before the U.S. Supreme Court in 19th-century attire, including a "morning coat" with tails.
In the U.S., lawyers are most frequently referred to in everyday speech as "lawyers" or "attorneys". Technically speaking, an "attorney" is simply one who acts on behalf of another. An "attorney at law" is, therefore, one who is trained to, and legally permitted to, act on behalf of a client. Practically speaking, there is no difference at all between "lawyer" and "attorney" in the United States.
Some lawyers and law firms may refer to themselves on advertisements and stationery as "attorneys and counsellors at law". While there was formerly a legal distinction between the two, there is none at present. However, a judge will refer to an attorney appearing before him or her as "Counsel" or "Counsellor", if not as "Mr. ___" or "Ms. ___".
In the United Kingdom, Australia, and several other common law countries, there are generally two kinds of lawyers— solicitors and barristers. Solicitors may practice before lower courts, but their main (and traditionally only) work is outside the courts, in such areas as legal advice (which may be highly specialised), property conveyancing, wills and estates.
In the UK criminal investigation is done by the Police, HM Customs and Excise, Inland Revenue, Trading Standards Officers and other state organisations (which may, or may not, employ a solicitor or barrister). The prosecution of those criminal cases is done by either the local council, or more usually the Crown Prosecution Service (which does employ a number of solicitors and barristers) and the cases are heard by lay magistrates (who are not lawyers, but who are assisted by a clerk with legal qualifications), or by a Judge (who is legally qualified). Coroners will either be a solicitor, barrister, or medical doctor.
Barristers may practice before lower, superior and high courts. Traditionally (and still for major cases) both a solicitor (for advice) and a barrister (for representation) were required for legal representation before the courts.
In recent years however, the exclusive rights of audience in higher courts held by barristers have been eroded by the introduction of Solicitor Advocates. Solicitors who are described as such have usually received specialised training including tuition on the practices and formalities of court. However, due to the costs and time associated with this training, the majority of solicitor advocates practice in the fields of commercial law or corporate litigation. Indeed, one of the reasons for introducing Solicitor Adovates was to act as a check on the high costs associated with representation in commercial cases - law firms are now able to offer in-house representation for their clients at substantially reduced cost.
Certain common law jurisdictions—for example, Malaysia, Singapore, Sweden, Canada, and certain states in Australia—have a fused legal profession, whereby lawyers practice as both barristers and solicitors.
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