Learning rules in nation filled with lawyers


My family and I have rarely needed to use a lawyer. My wife and I went to a lawyer who worked for the company where we worked when we created our wills. There was one occasion, probably 10-15 years ago, when we had to help a family friend find a lawyer. I was thinking about that recently in connection with some other writing, and I recalled the biggest surprise I got at the time regarding finding a lawyer out of state.

Not all lawyers are automatically qualified to work in all states. I suppose that makes sense, but I don’t know.

For example, let’s say you need a lawyer regarding a case in Oklahoma, but you live in Texas. I don’t know for sure, but I think you’d need to check to make sure your Texas lawyer was approved, permitted, allowed, or whatever, to practice in Oklahoma before you hire him/her. I’m guessing there’s professional courtesy among adjacent states — but that’s just a guess.

Sure, if you have Oklahoma City lawyers at your disposal and you’re looking for legal representation in Tulsa, you probably have no issue. But if you live in Oklahoma City and have a lawyer there you use regularly — you need to make certain he/she would be allowed to work for you if you find yourself facing legal needs in Seattle!

All this came home to us when we tried to help our family member find an attorney on the Internet. His legal need was in Colorado, he lived in Missouri, and we looked for a Missouri lawyer near him to help. The person we located was not licensed to practice in Colorado, but fortunately he had professional contacts with a firm in Colorado that was able to help.

Sort of amazing to me. We have a nation overflowing with lawyers — and there’s no official licensing or professional recognition among all the states. Go figure!

January 21, 2010 | Filed Under General 

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