legal-terms
What do the different abbreviations after lawyer names mean?
<p>There are numerous. I'm looking for anyone that could list them and answer what all mean and what they entail.</p>
<p>For example, ESQ, P.A., PLLC, etc.</p>

<p>&quot;Esq&quot; Is short for &quot;Esquire&quot; which was once the lowest level of the English system of titles for nobility and gentry (originally an esquire was a sort of apprentice knight, and later it indicated that a person was a &quot;gentleman&quot; but without any higher title) Lawyers started using it to indicate that although paid professionals, they claimed a social status above that of tradesmen and shopkeepers. It is now largely obsolete, but some lawyers still use it.</p>
<p>Most of the other initials refer to the form of business organization that a lawyer or law firm uses. More specifically:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>&quot;PA&quot; means &quot;professional association&quot; a form of organization which reduces the individual liability of members of the firm. See <a href="https://www.lawyers.com/ask-a-lawyer/contracts/what-does-pa-mean-after-a-lawyers-name-1663065.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this q&amp;A</a> A pay is in many ways similar to a corporation or an LLC.</p>
</li>
<li><p>&quot;PLLC&quot; means &quot;professional limited liability company&quot; which is a version of an LLC used specifically by groups of doctors and lawyers.</p>
</li>
<li><p>&quot;PLC&quot; like &quot;PLLC&quot; means &quot;professional limited liability company&quot;. The two terms  are interchangeable when used for law firms, but PLC is also used for a Public Limited Company, which is a quite different sort of thing, and will not be a lawyer or law firm.</p>
</li>
<li><p>APC, A.P.C., PC, P.C., and Prof. Corp. all stand for &quot;Professional Corporation&quot; a form of organization which is similar to a PLLC.</p>
</li>
<li><p>&quot;LLP&quot; means &quot;Limited Liability Partnership&quot; a variation on the classic partnership organization.</p>
</li>
<li><p>&quot;SP&quot; means &quot;Sole Proprietorship&quot;, that is one lawyer working alone.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>None of these tell you anything about the kind of law a lawyer or firm does. None except SP tell you anything about how many lawyers a firm has. And none tell you anything about how competent a lawyer is.</p>
<p>For the most part, none of these terms is of any importance to a client or would-be client of a lawyer or law firm. Reputation of the specific firm is far more important.</p>
