A lawyer who deals in petty cases; an attorney whose methods are mean and tricky; an inferior lawyer
{i} cheater, swindler, one who defrauds; unethical lawyer whose methods have a bad reputation and are petty, shyster; person who tends to nitpick over trifles
disapproval You can describe an action or situation as pettifogging when you think that unnecessary attention is being paid to unimportant, boring details. pettifogging bureaucratic interference. too concerned with small details
quibbling over insignificant details; "caviling pettifoggers and quiggling pleaders"-Edmund Burke; "her nagging and carping attack"; "thought her editor unnecessarily nitpicking"; "a pettifogging lawyer's mind"; "had no patience with quibbling critics"