Reply to Attorneys - Settle This - The Use of Esquire When it is Obvious You Are An Attorney

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It's an honorific form of address, used to address someone but not used to describe oneself.  So it's acceptable (albeit pompous) to address someone as e.g. "Jane Doe, Esq." but not acceptable to sign in this way ("Sincerely yours, Jane Doe").[/quote]

This. End of discussion. [/quote]
Not "End of discussion." This would have made sense in 1961. Not today. Culture evolves, and social mores move with it, especially in the context of business correspondence. [/quote]

Fine, you're right. It's 2024 and it's douchey and pompous to use at anytime. If you're in a legal position, your title reflects that. If you're not in a legal position, then no one needs to know that you're a lawyer. [/quote]

[b]I'm in a legal position and I work with a lot of JDs who aren't, and I do actually want to know whether they're attorneys. It changes the starting point when I'm explaining my legal advice. [/b]
None of those people use Esq., so I have to figure it out through social channels, but I do want to know.[/quote]

This ^^. I worked with a lot of folks in a particular federal agency and some were lawyers and some weren't. I'm a lawyer. It was extremely helpful for me to know who the lawyers were. Fortunately, they did use Esquire in their signature blocks. I appreciated it. For this particular agency, it makes a lot of sense for the attorneys to identify themselves in this way in correspondence.

So many people on this thread are blathering on about how this isn't necessary because they don't have the experience to understand how it can be. [/quote]
+1. No need to use it if you work at a private law firm, but if you’re in a GC or JD-preferred role (like HR or compliance), it’s useful to know. [/quote]

I am a GC and people know I’m the GC because right below the company name in my sig line it says “General Counsel.”   If my law degree is relevant, upon introduction I say, “dear so and so, as company’s legal counsel, I am reaching out to inform….” Or whatever.  If the law degree is important, move it to the correspondence.  Like any other matter, you don’t put important things in footnotes.

It can be useful to know if someone is an attorney, but Esq. is not the only way to signal that.  And if you find another solution, you look less like a douche.

But OP should follow agency policy, even if it is cringe.[/quote]

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