# What's up with lawyers calling themselves "The Honorable..." **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 24, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-lawyers-calling-themselves-the-honorable/220883 "2003-12-24T18:27:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Banger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@Banger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banger)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-lawyers-calling-themselves-the-honorable/220883/21 "2003-12-26T18:13:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Northern Piper \* > \*\*[sidebar]Why do American lawyers feel the need for “Esquire”? We don’t use it in Canada.[/sidebar] \*\* Because “Esq.” says “Hey! I’m a lawyer!” 😃 Actually, my business cards have “Esq.” on them, even though I never use it in correspondence or anything. I included it because my business card does not otherwise indicate that I am an attorney, as I work for the government and have a rather administrative-sounding work title. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-lawyers-calling-themselves-the-honorable/220883/22 "2003-12-26T18:18:16Z")
Sure, but that applies here in Canada too. I know lots of lawyers in gov’t employ with job titles that don’t make it clear they’re lawyers. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-lawyers-calling-themselves-the-honorable/220883/23 "2003-12-26T18:37:24Z")
As long as we’re on the topic, when did Esquire come into use for for lawyers? I don’t think Perry Mason was ever addressed as Esquire in the TV show, nor was anyone in most of the classic movies from the 20th century that involved lawyers, barristers, or solicitors. I first noticed it in the early 1980’s. Esquire originally meant a member of the lowest rank of British gentry, or alternatively, someone who by education and professional achievement could be considered a gentleman. Samuel Pepys was some sort of high-level government clerk, and he was able to append ‘Esquire’ to his name. But as I noted above, its use now seems solely restricted to the legal profession, so much so that I was talking to somebody once who said they wanted to get their “E.S.Q. degree”! ---
**Author:** ![Banger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@Banger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banger)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-lawyers-calling-themselves-the-honorable/220883/24 "2003-12-26T18:46:10Z")
hmm… I don’t know any practicing attorneys who don’t have “Esq.” or “Attorney at Law” or some other such indicator of them being an attorney on their business cards. ---
**Author:** ![wnorthr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecccb3/32.png) [@wnorthr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wnorthr)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-lawyers-calling-themselves-the-honorable/220883/25 "2003-12-26T19:17:09Z")
If I remember correctly Tom Sawyer referred to himself as Esquire. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-lawyers-calling-themselves-the-honorable/220883/26 "2003-12-26T19:26:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Banger \* > \*\*hmm… I don’t know any practicing attorneys who don’t have “Esq.” or “Attorney at Law” or some other such indicator of them being an attorney on their business cards. \*\* My first question on thinking about this was, why didn’t they just use the degree after their names, JD, and perhaps LLM? But then it wasn’t so long ago that lawyers were often not degreed, but simply clerked or apprenticed with some established practitioner and then sat for the bar exam when they felt they were ready. ---
**Author:** ![Banger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@Banger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banger)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-lawyers-calling-themselves-the-honorable/220883/27 "2003-12-26T20:43:16Z")
Don’t forget though: one can have a JD and a LLM and not be a lawyer admitted to practice 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lockz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Lockz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lockz)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-lawyers-calling-themselves-the-honorable/220883/28 "2003-12-26T22:55:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by C K Dexter Haven \* > \*\*In the UK, I believe that it was customary to call a member of Parliament “honourable” and a member of the Cabinet is “right honourable.” \*\* And in Canada, every M.P. is “Honourable” and all Prime Ministers, current or former are “Right Honourable”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-up-with-lawyers-calling-themselves-the-honorable/220883.md?page=1)