Many attorneys, especially those of my generation, are uncomfortable with the acronyms of modern written communication: FYI, BTW, OMG and so forth. At first, we tried pronouncing them. That didn’t work. With practice, we mastered some of the early ones: PTA, MPG, BSA, FBI. We were just getting used to BLT and BYO and CYA when—BAM! ZAP!—some other generations came along and buried us in Scrabble tiles. Although it is unnatural to communicate with abbreviations, we learn quickly. Teaching in a law school, I saw the ease with which my vocabulary expanded from LOL to LMAO to LMFAO. 

While long lists of seemingly unrelated letter combinations may intimidate some members of my generation of lawyers, this writer goes boldly into the UNKN. For the past 10 years, my work has brought me regularly into the backyard of the Office of Attorney Ethics, where, in a surprising demonstration of modernity, acronyms have littered the landscape since deep in the last century. These are not ordinary acronyms—these are part and parcel of your law license. Although your practice may not require you to know about PTI or RRR or FTA or OTC, you should know these, presented here as a public service. NP (formerly, YW).

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