An attorney of record is a lawyer or barrister who has appeared in court or signed pleadings. The attorney of record in American or British courts remains the official lawyer, until some other attorney replaces him or her. This attorney "has made an appearance on behalf of a party to a lawsuit."
In most U.S. jurisdictions, an attorney must obtain court permission to terminate the status of attorney of record. Attorneys of record cannot absolve themselves of their responsibilities to their clients by sending another attorney in his or her place.
An attorney of record must inform the court, all parties (if pro se), and all other attorneys on the case when the attorney of record withdraws or files a motion to do so. They must also quickly inform the court of any change of email address immediately. An attorney of record must not "abandon" their client.
Attorneys of record have some special privileges in certain courts and types of cases. They are on a short list of people, including the litigants, who may request certified copies of sealed divorce decrees.
Famous quotes containing the words attorney of, attorney and/or record:
“Even an attorney of moderate talent can postpone doomsday year after year, for the system of appeals that pervades American jurisprudence amounts to a legalistic wheel of fortune, a game of chance, somewhat fixed in the favor of the criminal, that the participants play interminably.”
—Truman Capote (1924–1984)
“I always was of opinion that the placing a youth to study with an attorney was rather a prejudice than a help.... The only help a youth wants is to be directed what books to read, and in what order to read them.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“The lowest and vilest alleys of London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.”
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)