jurist

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

jurist
    n 1: a legal scholar versed in civil law or the law of nations
         [syn: {jurist}, {legal expert}]
    2: a public official authorized to decide questions brought
       before a court of justice [syn: {judge}, {justice}, {jurist}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Jurist \Ju`rist\, n. [F. juriste, LL. jurista, fr. L. jus,
   juris, right, law. See {Just}, a.]
   One who professes the science of law; one versed in the law,
   especially in the civil law, such as a judge, lawyer, or
   legal scholar; a writer on civil and international law.
   [1913 Webster]

         It has ever been the method of public jurists to draw a
         great part of the analogies on which they form the law
         of nations from the principles of law which prevail in
         civil community.                         --Burke.
   Juristic

from Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

JURIST. One well versed in the science of the law. The term is usually 
applied to students and practitioners of law.