Many
attorneys
practice
law
in
multiple
states,
since
clients
often
like
to
use
the
same
lawyers
to
handle
as
many
matters
as
possible.
Today,
it
is
relatively
easy
to
begin
practicing
law
in
different
jurisdictions
since
many
states
have
reciprocity
and
do
not
require
bar
candidates
to
sit
for
an
additional
bar
exam.
Once
a
lawyer
is
admitted
to
practice
in
a
new
jurisdiction,
there
may
be
a
learning
curve
before
that
attorney
learns
all
of
the
local
customs
and
practices
particular
to
legal
professionals
of
that
jurisdiction. Although
there
are
many
differences
in
practicing
law
between
jurisdictions,
I
have
seen
a
few
interesting
differences
in
my
own
practice.
Names
For
Lawyers
I
started
my
legal
career
handling
mostly
litigation
matters
filed
in
New
York. In
that
state,
some
lawyers
call
each
other
“counselor,”
but
most
lawyers
and
paralegals
do
not
use
any
kind
of
honorific. While
working
on
a
few
matters,
I
needed
to
work
with
lawyers
who
were
admitted
to
practice
in
some
New
England
states. Legal
professionals
in
such
jurisdictions
may
refer
to
a
lawyer
as
“Attorney
____”
so
I
would
be
referred
to
as
“Attorney
Rothman”
which
would
be
weird
to
say
in
New
York,
New
Jersey,
and
I’m
betting
a
number
of
other
jurisdictions. Ultimately,
the
greeting
makes
sense,
and
I
call
coaches,
members
of
the
clergy,
and
other
professionals
by
their
job
followed
by
their
last
name.
I
just
was
not
used
to
this
practice
being
applied
to
lawyers.
In
many
jurisdictions,
it
is
common
to
affix
“Esq.”
(short
for
“Esquire”)
after
someone’s
name
if
they
are
licensed
to
practice
law.
Interestingly,
legal
professionals
in
some
states,
such
as
Pennsylvania,
are
more
apt
to
spell
out
the
entire
title
of
“Esquire”
rather
than
abbreviate.
Ultimately,
this
is
a
small
difference,
but
it
is
something
to
keep
in
mind
if
a
lawyer
wants
to
fit
in
while
practicing
law
in
a
different
jurisdiction.
Different
Lexicon
Many
states
use
modern
words
to
discuss
legal
practice,
and
indeed,
the
Federal
Rules
of
Civil
Procedure
also
use
modern
words
like
motion,
stay,
clerk,
and
others
to
discuss
legal
procedures. However,
some
jurisdictions
use
downright
antiquated
words
to
describe
the
legal
profession. In
the
past
few
years,
I
have
had
to
look
up
what
prothonotary,
praecipe,
supersedeas,
and
other
terms
were
since
I
am
more
used
to
the
modern
definitions
for
this
somewhat
antiquated
language.
Of
course,
it
is
easy
enough
to
research
what
these
words
mean,
but
a
lawyer
entering
a
jurisdiction
for
the
first
time
should
know
the
relevant
lingo
so
that
they
can
look
more
experienced
when
serving
clients.
Efiling
Systems
People
who
practice
in
federal
courts
are
lucky
when
it
comes
to
efiling
documents. Federal
courts
use
one
unified
efiling
system
for
all
federal
jurisdictions
across
the
country,
and
this
system
has
been
in
place
for
decades. States
were
late
to
the
game
in
adopting
statewide
efiling
systems,
but
many
states
now
have
one
efiling
system
that
lawyers
can
use
to
efile
documents
in
courts
in
those
states. However,
some
states
still
have
decentralized
efiling
systems. Indeed,
I
recently
had
to
file
a
document
for
a
lawsuit
in
a
state
in
which
each
individual
county
has
its
own
efiling
system. It
was
somewhat
annoying
to
research
the
efiling
system
for
a
particular
court,
sign
up
for
access,
and
ensure
that
documents
were
properly
filed. Practitioners
should
not
expect
that
they
can
use
one
statewide
system
to
efile
documents
in
a
particular
jurisdiction.
In
any
case,
lawyers
often
need
to
expand
their
practices
to
different
jurisdictions
to
better
serve
clients. Attorneys
practicing
in
different
jurisdictions
should
keep
in
mind
that
practices
may
differ
between
jurisdictions.
Jordan
Rothman
is
a
partner
of The
Rothman
Law
Firm,
a
full-service
New
York
and
New
Jersey
law
firm.
He
is
also
the
founder
of Student
Debt
Diaries,
a
website
discussing
how
he
paid
off
his
student
loans.
You
can
reach
Jordan
through
email
at jordan@rothman.law.