jailhouse lawyer
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of jailhouse lawyer
An Americanism dating back to 1925–30;
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I didn’t know they were supposed to do a declaration until I got with a jailhouse lawyer and he told me what they were supposed to do,” Spikes said.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2023
Wilson while in prison has graduated from the University of Oregon, volunteered in the prison hospice and served as a jailhouse lawyer for other inmates and a mentor to juvenile offenders.
From Washington Times • Apr. 24, 2020
I completed a paralegal course and became a bootleg jailhouse lawyer.
From New York Times • Oct. 16, 2018
This summer, Tiffany is a research assistant for Shon Hopwood, a professor whose unusual story — he became a jailhouse lawyer after serving time for bank robbery — has made him a media darling.
From Washington Post • Aug. 13, 2018
His first big victory as a jailhouse lawyer came on behalf of Julio Acevedo, in 1997.
From The New Yorker • Jun. 13, 2016
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
