Lawyering Definition:

In 2003, Sherr and Faber defined lawyering as:

"... a process of decision-making, in collaboration with clients, that uses legal concepts, methods and institutions to resolve disputes or manage opportunities."

In a 2009 article for the Law Library Journal, Josiah Daniel offers this in a law journal article that proves conclusively that he has time on his hands:

"Lawyering is the work of a specially skilled, knowledgeable, or experienced person who, serving by mutual agreement as another person's agent, invokes and manipulate, or advises about, the dispute-resolving or transaction-effectuating processes of the legal system for the purpose of solving a problem or causing a desired change in, or preserving, the status quo for his or her principal."

Daniel's verbose (his L.L.J. article is 10 pages long!), legalese definition implies that any person with some real legal knowledge may be engaged in lawyering; that it is different from providing legal advice for the practice of law. But the Presumably, under that definition, a paralegal engages in lawyering as would a court clerk at a registry who helps a self represented litigant complete court forms.

REFERENCES:

• Daniel, J., A Proposed Definition of the Term Lawyering, L.L.J., Volume 101, No. 2, Spring 2009, page 207
• Scherr, A. and Farber, H., Popular Culture as a Lens on Legal Profession, 55 S.C.L. Rev. 351 (2003)