Came looking for info on this. A co-worker not only writes Esq., but also JD after his name. Ridiculous.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There have been a few DCUM threads on this already. It's actually technically incorrect to use esq. yourself. It's a term of respect or honor towards another person, not to be used by a person for him or herself.

This.

Yep.

The worst I saw was a former President of the NJ Bar when I was a member there, who thought law was not being recognized properly as a profession, and used to call himself (in writing), Dr. John Jones, Esq. (since the J.D. degree is a Juris Doctor). I am protecting him by not using his real name (not sure why), but oh, lord, what a pretentious git.

My business card (when I was in private practice) said:

John Jones
Attorney at Law

No Esq., No "Dr.", etc. If someone else put me on a program for something they might refer to me as "John Jones, Esq." but I didn't do it referring to myself.

Anonymous wrote:There have been a few DCUM threads on this already. It's actually technically incorrect to use esq. yourself. It's a term of respect or honor towards another person, not to be used by a person for him or herself.

This.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I worked for a smaller firm (20 attorneys) only the men were "allowed" to put esquire on their cards, signatures, etc. Women had to use attorney at law. 10 years ago.

Is there some ancient custom that demands this? Wtf.

I didn't stay (or care) long enough to find out. First job out of law school and it lasted exactly 365 days. Then I high tailed it out of there. We also had to wear skirted suits. And, this was in Boston, not a super conservative small town.

it can be helpful for people who are in potentially non-lawyer roles to identify that they are actually lawyers. I know some in-house attorney at our clients do it for that reason.

Anonymous wrote:When I worked for a smaller firm (20 attorneys) only the men were "allowed" to put esquire on their cards, signatures, etc. Women had to use attorney at law. 10 years ago.

Is there some ancient custom that demands this? Wtf.

Anonymous wrote:I actually think it is very helpful.

It lets people know that not only are you a lawyer, but you are also a pretentious prick.

LOL!!!

It is a way to address other lawyers.

Small firm or solos use it to describe themselves. Also lawyers from other states like pa or nj, where not everyone is a lawyer.

I actually think it is very helpful.

It lets people know that not only are you a lawyer, but you are also a pretentious prick.

When I worked for a smaller firm (20 attorneys) only the men were "allowed" to put esquire on their cards, signatures, etc. Women had to use attorney at law. 10 years ago.

Anonymous wrote:There have been a few DCUM threads on this already. It's actually technically incorrect to use esq. yourself. It's a term of respect or honor towards another person, not to be used by a person for him or herself.

Yes, this.

It's ridiculous.

There have been a few DCUM threads on this already. It's actually technically incorrect to use esq. yourself. It's a term of respect or honor towards another person, not to be used by a person for him or herself.

No. It seems pretentious to me these days.

When dealing with larger firms, no one seems to put esq after their name. I recently starting working at a smaller company and we also sometimes use counsel from smaller firms (often just 1 lawyer office). They put esq after their name. I thought it seemed odd because I wasn't used to seeing esq from the lawyers I have dealt with previously from larger firms.