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V.F. glucosé, sérum,
Décalage de la CRP
Dec 7, 2016 11:46
7 yrs ago
16 viewers *
French term

Avocat Honoraire

French to English Law/Patents Law (general) Attorney\\\'s letter
Hi all,
Hoping someone might be able to tell me if there is an equivalent for this term in English. Context is sparse, just a list of qualifications Under an attorney's name :

Maître XXXXX
Docteur en Droit
Ancien Bâtonnier
Spécialiste en Droit
Commercial et droit Social
****Avocat Honoraire****

OK, I understand what an "Avocat Honoraire" is in a French/ European context (Un avocat qui démissionne mais qui peut continuer d'exercer partiellement son activité sous contrôle du Bâtonnier ou du conseil de l'Ordre), but do we have such a thing in Common Law countries ? I cannot bring myslelf to put "Honorary Lawyer" as it sounds like it is someone who is not "really" a lawyer but was just given an honorary law degree or Something.
For the moment, my instinct is to leave it in French.

Any suggestion greatly appreciated !
Cheers,
Jeff
Proposed translations (English)
3 +2 Honorary Counsel

Discussion

Jessica Noyes Dec 7, 2016:
I think the term "emeritus" really works, at least for the U.S. I have never heard it for a lawyer before, but most educated North American English speakers wcould make the cognitive leap and understand what is meant here.
Nikki Scott-Despaigne Dec 7, 2016:
@Charles @Jeff I like the suggestion of "emeritus lawyer". if you don't include "pro bono" then there is no indication that any work done is to be done gratis.
Nikki Scott-Despaigne Dec 7, 2016:
@Jeff Honorary "avocat" of what or to what? Do we know?
Charles Davis Dec 7, 2016:
@Jeff Yes, I see. My gut feeling is that there isn't an equivalent term exact enough to serve as a viable translation and that the keep-French-term-plus-explanation approach is likely to be the wisest. It's a question of tweaking the explanation to make it accurate.
Jeffrey Henson (asker) Dec 7, 2016:
@ Charles
Thanks Charles. The only problem with that is that an "Avocat Honoraire" could still be practising, which I think is the case in this instance...
Charles Davis Dec 7, 2016:
@Jeff Not sure it's a good enough fit, but they do have emeritus attorneys in the US:
http://www.americanbar.org/groups/probono_public_service/pol...

They're mostly older retired attorneys, though. Maybe the best thing would be to keep the French and put something like "qualified but no longer practising" in parentheses?

Proposed translations

+2
2 hrs
Selected

Honorary Counsel

Accurate translations of list-type presentations are awkward.
I agree with you that "honorary lawyer" is no good here for the reasons you set out.
"Honorary" can be kept, but how about "Counsel" for "avocat". Setting aside the fact that this can be referring to a "silk", which is country-specific, I think it is still sufficiently meaningful generally (as in "conseil, conseiller") as to confer an honour upon the person concerned without perverting any meaning.

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Note added at 2 hrs (2016-12-07 14:05:53 GMT)
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Question in Discussion section.
Peer comment(s):
agree writeaway : I prefer emeritus because it's clearer, not ambiguous like honorary. Obviously solicitor is too restrictive a term. Person could have been a barrister (as well).
3 hrs
agree AllegroTrans : I think the ambiguity is OK - Emeritus would imply full retirement
5 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks Nikki ! In the end, I went with "Emeritus Counsel"."
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