Lawyers should not put “Esq.” after their name. “Esquire” or its common abbreviation, “Esq.” is a honorific title. An honorific title is a word which conveys esteem or respect when addressing or referring to an person. Using an honorific in the first person is faux pas. When an attorney refers to himself as Joe Smith, Esq., he is essentially honoring himself. Any person who needs the world to know that they are a lawyer that badly is probably a snob you don’t want to know.