Who is a pettifogger and how is he differentiated with a lawyer in a legal context with example and illustrations for law students and ESL learners
/ˈpetɪfɒgər/ (noun)
Definition
an unscrupulous, insignificant and dishonest lawyer without any scruples whose practice is really insignificant, an inferior legal practitioner
Example
According to Michael Quinion of World Wide Words, “In the later middle ages, there was a class of lawyers who earned their livings making a great deal of fuss over minor legal cases. About 1560 they came to be called pettifoggers. They often had limited concern for scruples or conscience and the term was deeply contemptuous.”
Another notable usage occurred during a gossipy exchange between the English actor Sir Henry Irving and Judge F. Carroll Brewster, as documented in the 1904 Lancaster Law Review under the headline, “Legal Miscellany: The Real Lawyer and Real Actor.”
Source of example: https://www.npr.org/
Antonyms
Philadelphia lawyer
Parts of speech
Noun: pettifoggery
Verb: pettifog
