Attorney vs. Lawyer: Understanding the Difference in U.S. Usage

In everyday conversations, legal settings, and official documents, you’ll encounter both terms. So, is there a distinction?

In U.S. courts and law offices, lawyer and attorney are two names for the same profession. If someone is licensed to practice, they can be called by either term. A practitioner might personally prefer one title over the other (e.g. some law firm websites list their “attorneys” while others say “our lawyers”), but this is a matter of style, not a distinction in job function.

In casual conversation and the media, “lawyer” and “attorney” mean the same thing in the U.S. and can be used interchangeably. If someone says, “I’m going to call my lawyer,” it implies the same as “I’m going to call my attorney.” There is no formal title difference being implied in everyday use – both refer to an individual educated in law and (usually) licensed to help with legal matters. In fact, standard dictionaries and even the U.S. Department of Labor treat the words as synonyms.

That said, there are a few subtle connotations that sometimes creep in. The term “lawyer” is slightly more common in general use and has been the more popular term for over a century. Some people feel that lawyer sounds a bit more informal, and unfortunately it can carry the faint echo of lawyer jokes or negative stereotypes. By contrast, “attorney” might be chosen as a more formal-sounding term – some legal professionals prefer attorney because they feel lawyer can have negative connotations of dishonesty. However, these shades of meaning are minor. In practice, if you refer to someone as either a lawyer or an attorney in everyday American English, everyone will understand you mean a person in the business of law, and no one will assume a different job or status based on the choice of word. In other words, Attorney is a formal word; lawyer is less formal. But formality aside, there’s no fundamental difference.

One More Nuance

You might hear the saying “All attorneys are lawyers, but not all lawyers are attorneys.” This phrase attempts to summarize the technical difference that attorney implies a role of acting on behalf of someone (a client). By this reasoning, someone could have a law degree (making them a lawyer by education) but not actually represent anyone or be licensed, so they wouldn’t be an attorney (since they have no client to attorn for). In reality, though, this is a pedantic distinction rarely observed in practice.

Virtually everyone who completes law school and passes the bar will use lawyer and attorney interchangeably to describe themselves. And importantly, you cannot present yourself to the public as either a lawyer or an attorney unless you are licensed – doing so would be unauthorized practice of law. In other words, an unlicensed law graduate might technically know the law, but they have no legal right to call themselves an attorney (or a lawyer) offering services. Thus, in official and practical terms, lawyer = attorney in the U.S., since anyone operating under either title must be duly credentialed.

Quick Look: Usage in Other English-Speaking Countries

For extra perspective, it helps to know that “lawyer” and “attorney” aren’t always interchangeable in other countries. Different legal systems use different terminology for legal professionals:

United Kingdom: The term “attorney” isn’t widely used for legal professionals in Britain. Instead, the UK distinguishes between barristers and solicitors – roughly speaking, barristers specialize in courtroom advocacy and wear the traditional wigs, while solicitors handle legal advice and preparatory work. Both fall under the general umbrella of “lawyers,” but you wouldn’t generally call a British solicitor or barrister an “attorney.” (One exception is the historical title “Attorney General,” a high official who is indeed a lawyer but carries that title as part of the office.) Essentially, lawyer is the generic term in the UK, and specific roles have their own names.

Canada: Canadian usage is very similar to American in that “lawyer” is the common term for a legal professional. The term attorney is not commonly used in everyday reference to lawyers, except in certain official titles or contexts. For example, some provinces call their public prosecutors “Crown attorneys,” and Canada also has an Attorney General at the federal and provincial levels. In the province of Quebec (where French is an official language), the French term for a lawyer is avocat, which in English may be rendered as attorney in some contexts. Generally speaking, though, a Canadian will talk about hiring a lawyer, not an attorney – the latter sounds a bit American or formal to Canadian ears.

Australia: Australia follows a pattern like the UK. The legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers, and the word “attorney” is not commonly used to describe either role. Australians typically use “lawyer” as the all-purpose term for anyone qualified in law. One might occasionally hear attorney in specific phrases (for instance, “patent attorney” as a specialist in intellectual property, or in the title “Attorney-General” for a government minister), but if you’re talking about your friend who handles legal matters, you’d call them a lawyer, not an attorney.

In summary, outside the U.S. the word attorney either has a narrow meaning or isn’t used much at all. The United States is somewhat unique in using attorney as an everyday synonym for lawyer. So if you travel to London, Toronto, or Sydney and discuss legal matters, you’ll sound more natural referring to someone as a lawyer unless you’re speaking of a specific title or power of attorney situation.

Conclusion

For curious readers in the U.S., the key takeaway is that “lawyer” and “attorney” are, for practical purposes, the same in everyday use and legal contexts. Nearly everyone who is an attorney is also a lawyer, and vice versa. Any subtle differences tend to come down to connotation or context rather than any official status. Lawyer is a perfectly correct term for anyone licensed to practice law, and attorney emphasizes the role of representing clients (which that licensed lawyer will do). In casual speech, you might lean toward lawyer (the more commonly used term), while attorney might appear in more formal or specific references – but even that is a matter of personal tone. Legal professionals themselves may choose the title they like best, but it doesn’t change their qualifications or duties.

If you’re dealing with official paperwork or job titles, you’ll encounter attorney frequently (attorney-at-law, power of attorney, Attorney General, etc.), yet you can be confident it still points to someone in the legal profession – usually the same kind of person we also call a lawyer. And if you ever find yourself wondering which term to use for your own needs: in the United States, you can generally use whichever you prefer. Need legal help? You can search for a lawyer or an attorney – you’ll end up in the same capable hands. The difference is mostly in the name, not the service.