Why do lawyers specify that they are “attorneys at law?” Are there some attorneys that are not “at law?”
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Another thing to remember is that (simplifying a complicated history a lot), two different groups of lawyers developed.
One group, stood in for you in a legal context. In other words they were “attorneys-at-law”. They could sign documents on your behalf and, usefully, go on the court record on your behalf. All very useful if you happened not to live in London (where the Royal courts were) or if you were busy and not able to deal with the court promptly or do other legal business while you were busy.
However, courts were tricky things and at one time very formulaic. Get a formula wrong and the whole process might fall apart. It became useful to have people who were (1) experts in the whole nonsense but also (2) not attorneys, so you could disavow them. “Oh, my stupid representative may have said that, but ….”.
This profession became (by various means) the profession of barrister (called to the bar of England and Wales). Barristers are not attorneys at law – they are often said to be “counsel” instead.
Americans don’t make this distinction and are confused when I say that I am a lawyer but not an attorney-at-law (nor an officer of the court).
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