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Attorney Question

multisync

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This is a question for you attorneys out there. I received a business card from someone and after his name it said "JD". But it did not say "Attorney at Law". I was told that means that he has been disbarred. Is that true?
 
I'm not an attorney but JD is indicative of the fact that the person holds the degree of Juris Doctor.

Around a quarter of the people who graduate with a JD choose not to practice law professionally and, consequently, won't likely join a bar association. There's no negative connotation of a JD not belonging to a bar (unless they tried and couldn't make it).
 
I understand that JD is basically a degree like BA or BS. In the case I am questioning, the person did practice law at one time, so he must have passed the bar at some point. But since it is no longer on his business card, does that imply that he was disbarred?
 
Or let it lapse. I used to be a CPA. In "inactive" status I had to do continuing education to keep it alive. Decided to move it to "retired" status. Was still going to cost about $200/yr. I never practiced, had no intention of ever practicing. Looked good on my resume when I was raising money for a startup. Don't miss the designation. If he is a JD and doesn't practice, what would he put on his business card besides JD?
 
I understand that JD is basically a degree like BA or BS.
That's not quite accurate. JD is a postgraduate degree requiring three years of post-baccalaureate study. In the academic community it is considered an earned doctorate, more than a master's, but less than a PhD. At UMES it was enough to get you a tenure track position beginning as an assistant professor.
 
So my initial question still stands: If his business card says JD but not Attorney at Law, does that imply that he is inactive, disbarred or something else?
 
This is a question for you attorneys out there. I received a business card from someone and after his name it said "JD". But it did not say "Attorney at Law". I was told that means that he has been disbarred. Is that true?

No, it usually doesn’t indicate disbarment. It likely is someone who graduated from law school but either did not take, or did not pass, the bar exam. It likely does not mean someone who’s become inactive because a person who had stopped practicing law would not bother advertising the degree on a business card.

When my parents graduated from law school (my mom in 1949, my dad in 1950), the degree was L.L.B, a Bachelor in Law, rather than J.D.

There is a lot less business card circulation among lawyers than when I started practicing. Once people had email addresses and smart phones, the need and custom began dying off.
 
Oh, and one other thing. The “Bar Association” has many different meanings. I can’t speak for other states, but in California, the State Bar Association used to be an independent organization that operated sort of in conjunction with the Supreme Court for licensing purposes. But the organization also lobbied in Sacramento, arranged for discounts on things like rental cars and malpractice insurance, organized travel for groups of lawyers, etc. Since membership in the Bar was required to practice law, people had to pay for lobbying through their dues. Eventually that became controversial;

Then, maybe ten or fifteen years ago, the regulation of the legal profession in California was turned over to the state government. The non-regulatory functions were split off to a new entity called the California Lawyers Association.

There are some lawyers who are very active statewide, or in specialty groups for particular specialties, or even nationally in the American Bar Association (which is not a governmental agency). There are other lawyers who aren’t interested or in any event aren’t joiners. They do just fine.
 
By itself it means nothing other than the have the degree.

I have seen law firms with business cards indicating the firm name with “attorneys at law” but the lawyers identified as only JD.

I can sorta but barely see a lawyer who doesn’t practice but does business consulting mentioning the degree the way one might list an MBA.

OTOH, I have a hard time wondering why a disbarred lawyer would have a business card advertising the fact.
 
So my initial question still stands: If his business card says JD but not Attorney at Law, does that imply that he is inactive, disbarred or something else?
No. It’s not indicative of being disbarred
 
My dad has an LLB
 
Immediately upon reading the original question, all that came to my mind was John Deere, because here it is simply JD.

I've been in mediation, where the person has had JD after their name.
 
I guess more to the point, the attorney had “attorney at law” on their card but now doesn’t. I don’t read anything into that. Google their name - you’ll see if they were disbarred. Look up the lawyer with the state bar of that state. They will tell you if they have an active license or not. Send me a message, and I’ll do it for you keeping the name and results confidential.
 
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