counsel of record

Primary tabs

The counsel of record, also known as attorney of record, is the lawyer who appears in court or receives pleadings and other formal documents on a party's behalf. 

In People v. Macrander, 828 P.2d 234, the Supreme Court of Colorado held that “an ‘attorney of record’ is a term used to refer to a lawyer who has formally appeared in court for the purpose of representing a party in a judicial proceeding.” Similarly, in Maner v. Maner, 279 Ala. 652, the Alabama Supreme Court held that “an ‘attorney of record’ means an attorney who has filed an appearance or pleading in the cause and is therefore presumed to have authority to bind his client by acceptance of service…he becomes an attorney of record only when his name appears on pleadings in the cause, or the record shows his authority to act for his client by virtue of his client's selection of him, or his selection or association by other counsel of the client, or by some action of the court”.

In patent and trademark law, the attorney of record is a lawyer or agent named in a power of attorney filed by a patent or trademark applicant.

[Last updated in July of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]