# Do lawyers have to prove they are lawyers before they go to court? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 20, 2021, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382 "2021-12-20T20:41:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382/21 "2021-12-21T12:59:23Z")
Of course he is. I’m Jerry **C** allow. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382/22 "2021-12-21T15:02:20Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > “OBJECTION, heresay!” Well, that shows why you needed to pay for a lawyer. You were actually objecting to “hearsay”! 😉 I could imagine the buffoon responding to your objection, “What’s wrong? I’m HERE, and I’m SAYING it!” ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382/23 "2021-12-21T15:42:02Z")
Heh, lucky for my the judge couldn’t distinguish between my saying “heresay” vs “hearsay”! ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382/24 "2021-12-21T15:46:52Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > You’d probably get caught eventually, but no, no one checks IDs at the door (when I used to practice up to 10 yrs ago). And if you got caught, I imagine the repercussions would be significant. In federal court, they check your ID at security (and by that I mean look at your license, they don’t compare it to any database, so it’s pretty silly). The only place I have ever had to show my bar card was to get into jails to see clients. I started practicing before the internet (or at least before it existed as we now know it). I don’t know how they checked bar numbers in those days. Now, it is very easy. See the “quick lookup” section on this page. If I had a reason to check, I could know in a couple of second if a person was actually licensed to practice law. But, in 30+ years, I’ve never had a reason to bother checking. [https://www.mywsba.org/PersonifyEbusiness/Default.aspx?TabID=1536](https://www.mywsba.org/PersonifyEbusiness/Default.aspx?TabID=1536) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382/25 "2021-12-21T15:58:32Z")
Just wanted to let you all know I am appreciating this thread. I took a tour of the Maricopa County courts a couple years ago. It’s really instructive for a TV junkie to see what court is really like. The day I was there it was almost all drug cases. It was an assembly line. Many lawyers with piles of files for all the expected cases. Motions and pleas. Got to tour the jail, too. I am NOT going to get arrested! And it gave me a new appreciation in L&O when the put someone on “suicide watch”. It doesn’t just mean they look more often! ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382/26 "2021-12-21T16:44:19Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > In federal court, they check your ID at security (and by that I mean look at your license, they don’t compare it to any database, so it’s pretty silly). The only place I have ever had to show my bar card was to get into jails to see clients. > > I started practicing before the internet … Yeah, before OK City, they didn’t even have security to go into some federal buildings. I stopped practicing in fed cts (district courts in Chicago, Milwaukee, Cincy, 6th/7th/8th Circuits) about 10 years ago, but even then, they asked for an ID in the lobbies, but people other than lawyers went in. No one checked IDs at the courtroom doors. I also found it laughable that they didn’t check IDs against anything. Such BS theater. All they were checking was whether you HAD a driver’s license. Some reason to believe terrorists couldn’t get driver’s licenses? 🙄 Back in the day, in Cook County courts, you’d handwrite an order in the courtroom. Yeah, you would put A bar number on it, but again, who checked when? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382/27 "2021-12-21T17:30:50Z")
I prefer to think @kayaker misspelled “OBJECTION, heresy!” It’s funny in my head, at least. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382/28 "2021-12-21T17:45:30Z")
That’s what I thought too! (For a moment.) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382/29 "2021-12-21T17:53:31Z")
Isn’t that objection appropriate if someone affirms rather than taking an oath? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382/30 "2021-12-21T18:12:07Z")
Any of you law school graduates batting 1.000? 😂 ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382/31 "2021-12-22T01:16:08Z")
Hey I never said I graduated. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382/32 "2021-12-22T18:58:53Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I also found it laughable that they didn’t check IDs against anything. Such BS theater. All they were checking was whether you HAD a driver’s license. Some reason to believe terrorists couldn’t get driver’s licenses? 🙄 Were they recording the ID’s? If so, then that would allow FBI agents to check whether a suspect had been in before (let’s say, scouting a building in a few days in advance of a violent protest, thus suggesting premeditation…?) At the very least, if someone causes a disturbance, they have a record of who it might be. I hope at the time, drivers’ licenses were not that easy to counterfeit? ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382/33 "2021-12-22T19:01:21Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > Were they recording the ID’s? Nope. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382/34 "2021-12-22T19:18:12Z")
In the Law and Order episode mentioned in the OP, the characters in the DA’s office didn’t seem worried at all about the fraudulent ADA’s cases being overturned; the possibility was disposed of in one throwaway line. That struck me even on first viewing; is that accurate? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382/35 "2021-12-22T19:24:53Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > In the Law and Order episode mentioned in the OP, the characters in the DA’s office didn’t seem worried at all about the fraudulent ADA’s cases being overturned; the possibility was disposed of in one throwaway line. That struck me even on first viewing; is that accurate ? Off the top of my head, I’m not sure a defendant would have standing to complain about it. Certainly if the defense attorney was unlicensed the conviction would be in jeopardy, but does an unlicensed prosecutor violate due process? I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382/36 "2021-12-22T20:01:48Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Don’t need to include my bar number on anything except my log-in to the Law Society website. I could have committed fraud for about 8 years after I did the whole Paralegal cert thing - I was working with a lawyer that left his log ins around for us to use to get info for various reasons, I still have it memorized, but he retired 8 years after I worked with him. Just checked, still have access to his lexisnexis account … it must be on auto pay or something ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382/37 "2021-12-22T20:22:36Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Don’t need to include my bar number on anything except my log-in to the Law Society website. In Oregon, and I think Nevada, the clerks ask you to put your bar number on the record when you make an appearance on a case. I have to look mine up every time (I only have memorized my home state bar number) In all the states I practice, you have to put your bar number on every pleading filed. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382/38 "2021-12-23T00:08:25Z")
I thought they were very worried about it - didn’t they double check a several dozen cases at the order of the appeals court to prove there weren’t any anomalies (admittedly, that thread got dropped after the episode focused on finding the murderer - but that’s just the way the series works). ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382/39 "2021-12-23T02:57:49Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > I thought they were very worried about it - didn’t they double check a several dozen cases at the order of the appeals court to prove there weren’t any anomalies (admittedly, that thread got dropped after the episode focused on finding the murderer - but that’s just the way the series works). They were, but McCoy was sure the cases were rock solid. “You get to know a man in the trenches.” Appeals court Chief Justice Leonidas Midonas\* demanded Branch check 25 cases, and the appellate court folk would check 25 more. For not having a law degree (or using his real name) Tenofskie/Dieter was actually a really good attorney. Just very boring. \*yeah, I’ve seen this one a time or two…hundred. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382/40 "2021-12-23T13:42:57Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > In all the states I practice, you have to put your bar number on every pleading filed. As I recall my brief stint in private practice (before electronic filing), IIRC, it was common for my clerk to physically file pleadings w/ the court clerk. So, was there any way for the clerk to confirm that I had actually written - or even seen - the pleading? And when appearing in court, as I said, you would put your # on any order/motion, but I sure don’t remember anyone checking it against my card. Or asking for any ID before I appeared in court before a judge and against an atty who did not know me. I’m not even sure what combination of events would eventually lead to me realizing someone had masqueraded as me. Or what would have led the pre-digital clerk to cross-reference bar #s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-lawyers-have-to-prove-they-are-lawyers-before-they-go-to-court/956382.md?page=3)