The Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports that Merriam-Webster Online listed “Pettifogger” as its word of the day.  What is a pettifogger?   “pettifogger PET-ee-fog-ur noun  1 : a lawyer whose methods are petty, underhanded, or disreputable : shyster.” 

I did a LEXIS search for the word and got 48 hits.  I learned that “pettifogger” can be used as a verb, as in he “had been pettifogging for two hours and a half.”  United States v. 16,000 Acres of Land, 49 F. Supp. 645, 654 (D. Kan. 1942).  “Pettifogger” is primarily used in older opinions where the judges wrote  lovely sentences. For example:  "He is a pettifogger who was mischievously bent on impeding a great reform demanded by the people, without regard to his chances of success in achieving his ostensible purpose, or else.”  Kennedy v. Item Co., 213 La. 347, 354 (La. 1948).  Or this sentence:  “In these representations they were backed by old tories and worthless pettifoggers, with such matchless effrontery that the men finally yielded to the solicitations of their officers, and concluded to set the laws at defiance.”  SUMNER v. BUEL, 12 Johns. 475 (N.Y. 1815).  Not sure what those sentences mean, but I enjoy the way they sound. 

Also, while advice of counsel is generally a valid defense, be wary of relying on pettifoggers:  "While an honest reliance on the advice of counsel, who has been fully informed of the facts, may be a complete justification in an action for malicious prosecution, the advice of a lawyer who is a pettifogger will be no justification. * * * And a reliance upon the advice of a person who is not a counselor or attorney at law is incompetent to disprove malice."  EIHLERT v. GOMMOLL, 1902 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 191 (Ohio Misc. 1902). 

Unfortunately, “pettifogger” is probably a word that only judges can use.  I think that if one lawyer calls another lawyer a “pettifogger” in court, that is reversible error and perhaps an ethics problem.