A lawyer (also called attorney, counsel, or counselor) is a licensed professional who advises and represents others in legal matters.
Atty. is a common abbreviation, often used in legal writing, such as court orders. The abbreviation appears in the course of doing business, on business cards and nameplates. It is also used in legal citations and law reviews. A lawyer may also put Esquire after his or her name.
JD can go after a lawyer's name, but it is usually only used in academic settings. Even though a legal degree is a doctorate, you do not usually address law degree holders as "doctor." Lawyers do not normally put Esq. after their name and many attorneys consider it old-fashioned.
Another distinction you may see when searching for a lawyer is the suffix attached to a name: “J.D.” or “Esq.” J.D. stands for juris doctorate and indicates that a person has obtained a law degree. “Esq.” stands for “Esquire” and indicates that a person is licensed by their state bar association to practice law.