I debate the editor of my search firm’s newsletter quite a bit over the following three words:  lawyer, attorney and counselor. For no logical reason, I’m not a big fan of the word lawyer. In my mind, I picture billboard signs and ambulance chasers. Attorney feels more corporate to me, and so I lean on that one heavily in my writing. I like the idea of counselor, but it comes across as hokey or ambiguous whenever I attempt to actually use it.

Whatever word we use to describe what you do for a living, however, here is what nonlawyer clients tend to hear: NO. At many companies, the prevailing view of the law department is still a hybrid of traffic cop and bureaucrat.