Representing someone in court was once considered dishonorable, a job for hired voices.
In medieval England, the role of the attorney emerged as courts grew complex enough that ordinary people could not navigate them alone. The word "attorney" comes from the Old French atorné, meaning one appointed to act on behalf of another.1 By the thirteenth century, English law recognized the right to appoint a representative in legal proceedings.
The distinction between attorneys and barristers, those who argued in court versus those who prepared cases, formalized in England over subsequent centuries. The Inns of Court, established in the fourteenth century, became the training ground for barristers.2
In ancient Rome, the profession had a different trajectory. Advocates were originally forbidden from accepting payment for their services. The Lex Cincia of 204 BCE prohibited fees for legal representation, treating the work as a civic duty.3 The ban eroded over centuries, and by the time of Emperor Claudius, advocates could charge fees up to a regulated maximum.
The American legal profession took a different path. Colonial America had few trained lawyers, and several colonies restricted or banned legal representation entirely. Massachusetts outlawed professional attorneys from 1641 to 1663.4
The modern law degree as a prerequisite for practice is a recent development. Abraham Lincoln practiced law for twenty-four years without attending law school, having taught himself through Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England.5 The American Bar Association, founded in 1878, gradually established educational standards that most states adopted by the mid-twentieth century.
As of 2022, the American Bar Association reported approximately 1.33 million licensed lawyers in the United States.6 California, with more than 170,000, had the largest bar of any state.