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The article nails it with this quote: >American lawyers all could call themselves “Esquire,” inasmuch as anyone can, and for lawyers it wouldn’t be misleading.
by D13Fd 6y ago
The article nails it with this quote:
>American lawyers all could call themselves “Esquire,” inasmuch as anyone can, and for lawyers it wouldn’t be misleading. But not many do. “There’s not a huge amount of debate, but when it does come up, there’s a sense that this is a kind of archaic term, it’s somewhat embarrassing,” says Silversmith. “It’s something where, in my personal experience, I would never use it. It would be horrifically pretentious to do that.”
This is correct. Seeing "esq." after a lawyer's name in an e-mail signature definitely tells you something about the person sending the e-mail (and it's not just that they are a lawyer...).
- pseudolus 6y agoAmongst lawyers it might be seen as ridiculous but I've seen the title used on many a bus stop shelter featuring ads for personal injury attorneys. For some reason it seems to resonate with members of the general public. It was also adopted by Bill ("Bill S. Preston, Esq") of "Bill and Ted" fame. One would have hoped that would have generated some ridicule and killed the title but unfortunately it did not.
- D13Fd 6y agoYes. Those bus stop ads are an example of the kind of attorney who uses "esq."
- excalibur 6y agoI'm assuming the Esquire was conferred on Bill S. Preston by his dad, making him the pretentious one. But of course the whole Wild Stallyns schtick was always more about being a musician than the music itself.
- ValentineC 6y agoI only got around to watching all the Bill and Ted movies last month, and found this explanation to make more sense: https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/397ukr/eli5_in_bill_teds_excellent_adventure_when_bill/ https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/397ukr/e... (tl;dr it's a reference to a watch ad.)
- codingdave 6y agoPersonal injury lawyers who put up billboards and ads are also seen as ridiculous by the rest of the legal industry, so you are right on-track in your assessment.
- alfiedotwtf 6y agoFunny... that’s the only place (Bill and Ted’s) I’ve ever seen the use of the word.
- A12-B 6y agoPretentious Lawyer is already a tautology, at least the ones who use Esq. are honest about it.