represent

an attorney who represents himself has a fool for a client

proverb Choosing to represent yourself in court rather than hiring a lawyer is usually very unwise. A: "I'm licensed and all, so I'm just going to represent myself. What's the problem?" B: "Well, you know what they say—an attorney who represents himself has a fool for a client."
See also: attorney, client, fool, himself, represent, who

represent (someone or something) as (something)

1. To depict, portray, or describe someone, something, or oneself as a particular kind or type of thing. The film aims to represent the dictator as a benevolent, generous leader. They're trying to represent their latest product's failure as a learning opportunity, but investors don't seem too convinced if the company's stock prices are anything to go by. She was arrested for representing herself as a lawyer to several people, offering discreet legal help in exchange for large fees.
2. To act or serve as some kind of delegate, advocate, or agent on behalf of someone or something. I don't want someone like him representing me as a senator in Congress! I've represented a number of talented writers as a literary agent in the past. It has been a great honor to represent my country as an ambassador to the United Nations.
See also: represent

represent (someone or something) in (something)

1. To indicate, symbolize, or stand for someone or something within something. The dove represents peace in many religious and political artworks. There is a long tradition of using shades of black and red to represent villains film.
2. To act or serve as someone's or something's delegate, advocate, or agent, as in business or legal activities. My father-in-law is an accomplished lawyer, so he's going to represent me in court. You want a shrewd businessperson to represent you in all your negotiations to ensure you get the best deal possible. I really don't advise representing yourself in the divorce proceedings.
See also: represent

represent to (someone or something)

1. To embody, typify, or act as an example of something to someone or something. The size of the project may look daunting, but it represents a huge business opportunity to me. That kind of behavior might represents a lazy, unreliable person to some people.
2. To indicate, symbolize, or stand for someone or something in the eyes of someone or something else. The subtle position of the woman's hand in the painting represents remorse to some people, while other think it represents acceptance. Though they may be politically incorrect, these festivities represent an important piece of cultural heritage to a lot of people in the country.
3. To act or serve as someone's or something's delegate, advocate, or agent while dealing with someone or something else. I decided to just let a recruiter represent me to potential employers who might have a position that fits my skills and experience. He went to the summit to represent his constituency to parliament.
4. To state, explain, or describe something to someone or something. My job it so argue the case in line with the way my client has represented the facts to me. They represented the project to the committee as an opportunity to revitalize the city's economy.
See also: represent
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

represent someone in something

to act as one's advocate or agent in business or legal proceedings. My lawyer represented me in court. His attorney will represent him in all his dealings with the publishing company.
See also: represent

represent someone or something as something

to depict or portray someone or something as something; to think of someone or something as something. I don't think you should represent me as so perfect. After all, I'm human. The artist represented my puppy as a playful animal.
See also: represent

represent something to someone

 
1. to exemplify something to someone. What does this behavior represent to you? This represents a lapse in manners to me.
2. to explain a matter to someone. He represented the matter to me in a much more charitable light. I did not represent it properly to you.
See also: represent
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • an attorney who represents himself has a fool for a client
  • attorney
  • at the point of (doing something)
  • be out of (one's) head
  • be at a disadvantage
  • at a disadvantage
  • address (one's) comments to (someone or something)
  • address comments or remarks to
  • address (one's) remarks to (someone or something)
  • be in it for
References in periodicals archive
* Freddie Fackelmayer and Ramsey Feher represented Demandbase in a 15,931 s/f lease at 114 West 41st Street for the entire ninth floor.
CBRE
You represent Airmen like Senior Airman Jason Cunningham.
Making the grade
Counsel the doubtful represented by Mother Catherine McAuley (1778-1841), the Irish founder of the Sisters of Mercy.
Portraits of mercy
(16.) The lending data of the aggregate of lenders represent the cumulative lending for all financial institutions that have reported HMDA data in a given market.
Orders issued under Bank Holding Company Act
Power Play: Thompson has represented many clients in evidentiary hearings before the California Public Utilities Commission, including the proposed WorldCom/Sprint merger and the SBC Communications/Pacific Telesis merger, evaluating the proposed mergers for competitiveness from an antitrust perspective.
America's Top Black Lawyers: from corporate law to criminal litigation, here are the lawyers to call to get you the best deal or keep you out of trouble
The main idea is to create a knowledge domain that is organized around a set of key concepts and to represent those concepts as virtual objects that can be navigated with interactive computer visualization techniques.
A knowledge-navigation system for dimensional metrology
The most prominent group of applications that displayed a "core" of common I/O characteristics was represented by OLTP systems, database systems, or mail server applications.
The workload driving the first industry-standard storage benchmark
In her exploration of how Hollywood represents religion in film, Miles limits her analysis to films that treat Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Seeing and Believing: Religion and Values in the Movies
A memory strand together with its stickers therefore represents a unique string of 1s and 0s.
Test-tube stickers for DNA-based computers
In this example, job attributes such as the physical demands and "tool knowledge" factors were used to represent the specific skill requirements on a job (in reality many more job attributes can be used).
Implementing a computerized job-matching program with a hierarchical occupational structure
represented the landlord, Seven Farms Road LLC, in the lease of 2,584 square feet of retail space at 295 Seven Farms Drive, Charleston, to Japan Karate Institute, Daniel Island LLC.
Hot Properties for April 1, 2019
The East is ruled by the Trigram Chen ('the Arousing'), which represents the explosive power of Thunder.
Subtle: aromatherapy for your home
The publication of these two collected anthologies represents an important moment in the historiography of jazz research.
Representing Jazz
Will Phillips of Ravenel Commercial Properties represented the tenant, Chasing Sage LLC, in the lease of 1,965 square feet of restaurant space at 267 Rutledge Avenue Charleston.
Hot Properties for Jan. 14, 2019
* CBRE's Adele Huang, Ken Meyerson and Brad Needleman represented Kahn Lucas Lancaster in a 17,655 s/f sublet at 1412 Avenue of the Americas for the entire tenth floor in a move from 112 West 34th Street.
CBRE