Attorney at law

A lawyer who practises law is referred to as an attorney at law or attorney-at-law, which is often shortened in daily speech to attorney. This is the preferred word in many countries, including South Africa (for certain attorneys), Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and the United States. It is exclusively used in Quebec as the English word for an attorney, and it is not used anywhere else in Canada. To attorn is a verb that means to transfer one's rights and responsibilities to another, which is where the word gets its origins.