pettifogger
Trivial detail haggler
A pettifogger is a lawyer who handles trivial cases or uses underhanded methods—someone more concerned with technicalities and procedural tricks than with justice or substance.
The term extends to anyone who quibbles over minor details or argues in bad faith: The committee devolved into a room of pettifoggers debating comma placement.
The word is old-fashioned but still useful when you want to accuse someone of small-minded, lawyerly obstruction.
Unscrupulous professional, especially legal
- charlatanFaker claiming false expertise
- swindlerPerson who deceives for money
- fraudsterCriminal deceiver for gain
- cheatAct dishonestly to win
scammer · con-artist · grifter · crook · trickster · deceiver · impostor · phony
One who criticizes trivial details
- hair-splitterOne obsessing over minutiae
- cavilerOne who nitpicks
- pedantObsessive precision-seeker
- sophistDeceptive rhetorical trickster
captious · carping · fussbudget · stickler · persnickety · fastidious · hypercritical · picayune
Licensed legal representative
- solicitorDocument-drafting legal professional
- barristerUK courtroom advocate
- advocatePublic cause supporter
- counselExpert guidance offered
litigator · mouthpiece · counselor · pleader · defender · notary · legalist · jurisprudence
Secretly planning wrongdoing
- cunningSly, scheming cleverness
- craftyCleverly deceptive
- wilySkilled at deception
- shrewdPractically clever, perceptive
guileful · artful · calculating · sly · maneuvering · underhanded · devious · manipulative
Intentional delay tactics
- delayingCausing later occurrence
- filibusterDelaying tactic through speech
- stonewallingDeliberately refusing to respond
- prevaricateSpeak misleadingly to deceive
equivocate · obfuscate · impede · hinder · thwart · hamper · encumber · procedural
shyster
Unscrupulous professional, especially legal
- charlatanFaker claiming false expertise
- swindlerPerson who deceives for money
- fraudsterCriminal deceiver for gain
cheat · scammer · con-artist · grifter · crook · trickster · deceiver · impostor · phony · sham
nitpicker
One who criticizes trivial details
- hair-splitterOne obsessing over minutiae
- cavilerOne who nitpicks
- pedantObsessive precision-seeker
sophist · captious · carping · fussbudget · stickler · persnickety · fastidious · hypercritical · picayune · niggling
attorney
Licensed legal representative
- solicitorDocument-drafting legal professional
- barristerUK courtroom advocate
- advocatePublic cause supporter
counsel · litigator · mouthpiece · counselor · pleader · defender · notary · legalist · jurisprudence · bar
conniving
Secretly planning wrongdoing
shrewd · guileful · artful · calculating · sly · maneuvering · underhanded · devious · manipulative · insidious
stalling
Intentional delay tactics
- delayingCausing later occurrence
- filibusterDelaying tactic through speech
- stonewallingDeliberately refusing to respond
prevaricate · equivocate · obfuscate · impede · hinder · thwart · hamper · encumber · procedural · bureaucratic
- lawyerslawyer, attorney, defense attorney, defense counsel, counselor
- swindlerscon artist, swindler, fraudster, scammer, grifter