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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]As this thread makes clear, a lot of people are super touchy about this, so it's best not to call yourself a lawyer if you aren't barred.

However, living and working in DC has often made me wish we had a clear category for people with legal training (i.e. law school, and perhaps even passing the bar) but who are not currently barred attorneys. [b]There are many, many people in this city with legal backgrounds who don't practice. Some maintain their bar membership but many do not -- they work in policy or research or consulting and will never represent a client as an attorney, so they don't bother. But they know a lot more about the law than people who didn't go to law school.[/b]

As a practical matter though, if you say someone is a lawyer, they assume you could represent them in court. So it's best to only use that word to describe people who legally can do that.[/quote]

I'm in that category, as are a number of my colleagues in a policy and consulting field.  Occasionally someone refers to me saying I'm a lawyer.  I always respond that I have a JD but am not a licensed attorney.  To PP's point, I know more than the average citizen, and had gained legal experience during my summers in law school and clinical work during 2L and 3L years, but I am not a member of the bar and would be very uncomfortable with people thinking I'm a lawyer.
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