Why does my attorney's name go on the work I alone did?

You draft the document. You catch the errors no one else would catch. You know the law as well as the person who signs it. Then the signature goes on, and the credit follows the signature, not the hand that did the work. This is not a judgment on you. It is how the system was built, long before you walked into it. The firm sells a name. It was never going to sell yours. That was true on your first day and will stay true tomorrow unless something changes. Your resentment is not confusion. It is accurate. It is telling you that your skill has outgrown your position. The unfairness is real — arguing that point further will not move you. The only question left is what you do with a skill this real, starting today.