Shyster

Defined in 5 dictionaries — Cyclopedic (1922), Ballentine's (1916), Bouvier (1914), Black's (1910), Anderson (1889)

The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary

Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922

A lawyer who conducts business in a knavish or dishonest way. SI. In Latin phrases. If.

Ballentine's Law Dictionary

James A. Ballentine · 1916

A dishonest practitioner of the law; one who adopts unprofessional methods in his practice. See Pettifogging shyster.

Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia

John Bouvier; revised by Francis Rawle · 1914

A trickish knave; one who carries on any business, especially a legal business, in a dishonest way. Gribble v. Press Co., 34 Minn. 343, 25 N. W. 710; see Bailey v. Pub. Co., 40 Mich. 251.

Black's Law Dictionary

Henry Campbell Black, M.A. · 1910

A "pettifogging shyster" is an unscrupulous practitioner who disgraces his profession by doing mean work, and resorts to sharp practice to do it. Bailey v. Kalamazoo Pub. Co., 40 Mich. 251. See, also, Gribble v. Pioneer Press Co., 34 Minn. 342, 25 N. W. 710.

A Dictionary of Law

William C. Anderson · 1889

See Crank; Pettifogger. Has reference to the professional character and standing of a lawyer. Hence, in an action for libeling one, as respects his character as a lawyer, by the use of the word, an issue as to whether the plaintiff is a lawyer or not is material.^ In an action for libel expressed in ordinary language, a witness may not testify as to the sense in which he understood the language, nor that he understood it to apply to the plaintiff the term "shyster." *