Definition of "pettifogger" [pet•ti•fog•ger]

• A petty, quibbling, unscrupulous lawyer. (noun)
• One who quibbles over trivia. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "He had long been reading law in his curious, spasmodically concentrated way, and he had practised a little as a "pettifogger," that is, an unlicensed practitioner in the inferior courts."
• "Before this I had ventured to try a few law cases before justices of the peace, both in the country, in villages, and in the city, and I had some professional triumphs, occasionally over a regular attorney, but more commonly meeting the "pettifogger," who was of"
• "The unintended consequence is empowerment of the moneyed few that can still afford the overpriced beltway pettifogger who knows the ropes."