Insert favorite lawyer joke here My fave is "95% of lawyers give the rest of us a bad name"
Maybe an elitist conspiracy by the people who use lawyers the most and can most afford lawyers
But seriously... lawyers have become such a focus for scorn and revulsion and it interests me. I was PMing w/ a longtime friend (I think ) and she commented that I should have been a lawyer. I don't have a bad opinion of lawyers in general but I'm pretty sure it wasn't meant as a compliment. It is true that there are a lot of totally unscrupulous, narcissistic, dishonest, eggsucking, scumbag, lower than a snake's belly lawyers
Ambulance chasers, corporate lawyers protecting the rights of corporations to dirty our air and water legally, insurance lawyers beating up poor people with legal instruments, real estate lawyers taking people's homes, divorce lawyers trying to stick it to one spouse or the other etc.
On the other hand you have civil rights lawyers fighting for our rights and trial lawyers working pro bono fighting injustice. To put it short and sweet, principled lawyers fighting those previously mentioned lawyers.
Some of my favorite people, real and literary, have been lawyers. Abraham Lincoln, Clarence Darrow, Atticus Finch, George Hanson
Many of the founding fathers were attorneys. Our nation was founded on laws intended to keep our rights safe as well as our persons.
The lawyers who tried Brown v. Board of Education, Roe v. Wade, Obergefell v. Hodges, Lawrence v. Texas, O'Connor v. Donaldson (check that one out) and hundreds of other Supreme Court cases that protect and establish equal rights regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation and everything else that defines us including having a MI.

[Umbral_Seraph]

Why we should use lawyers instead of rats for scientific research
1. They reproduce faster than rats
2. People actually care about what happens to rats
3. There are things even rats aren't willing to do

Originally Posted by Umbral_Seraph

Why we should use lawyers instead of rats for scientific research
1. They reproduce faster than rats
2. People actually care about what happens to rats
3. There are things even rats aren't willing to do

That's funny but I didn't mean that comments were restricted to jokes only.

I'll kill two birds with one stone (I know that's a cruel idiom) here: If you're ever arrested for a crime you didn't commit, call a locksmith

[Loial]

Originally Posted by George H.

But seriously... lawyers have become such a focus for scorn and revulsion and it interests me. I was PMing w/ a longtime friend (I think ) and she commented that I should have been a lawyer. I don't have a bad opinion of lawyers in general but I'm pretty sure it wasn't meant as a compliment. It is true that there are a lot of totally unscrupulous, narcissistic, dishonest, eggsucking, scumbag, lower than a snake's belly lawyers

Speaking as someone who has a law degree, I can tell you there weren't really all that many arrogant tossers on our course. Yes there were a few, but no more so than in any other walk of life. I suppose it's possible some might get corrupted by their proceeding career choices though...

However, for every ambulance chaser, corporate lawyer overseeing shady deals etc. there are infinitely more lawyers doing mundane things like conveyancing, routine family law, contracts & trusts/succession.

Even for those doing the perceived morally corrupt practices, it's mostly just a job to them. They aren't in it to cause misery & harm to others. I mean c'mon, someone's got to do it.

I guess it's just the case that we are typically only aware of the two extremes, the selfless lawyers out there fighting for those in need or the perceived morally bankrupt individuals representing the worst society has to offer. The truth of the matter as I said earlier is, most lawyers are doing a number of essential, routine services that we otherwise wouldn't give a second thought to.

Being taught law does instil in you a pre-programmed response to choose a line of argument & stick to it no matter what though. I fondly remember one night out after a few drinks with a friend of my law course, when we proceeded to have a heated argument over some aspect of law. Personally, I had no qualms either way with what we were arguing about but was just finding it incredibly amusing winding my friend up by countering his every point. (I'm a nice person, honest! It was just harmless banter/practice)

Anyway, to round things off...Why do they bury lawyers under 20 feet of dirt? ...

Possible trigger:

... Because deep down, they're really good people.

PS - in reference to someone saying "you'd make a good lawyer", I think there is a misconception that we are argumentative, arrogant & opinionated. That's really not true, we're as friendly & open-minded as the next person. Well most of us.

Ah, so that's who "George H." is!

I read the Wikipedia article on the O'Connor v. Donaldson case. Chilling.

Maybe the law of the appeal of bad news pertains to what information we usually get about lawyers.

Thanks for this.

Originally Posted by Loial

Speaking as someone who has a law degree, I can tell you there weren't really all that many arrogant tossers on our course. Yes there were a few, but no more so than in any other walk of life. I suppose it's possible some might get corrupted by their proceeding career choices though...

However, for every ambulance chaser, corporate lawyer overseeing shady deals etc. there are infinitely more lawyers doing mundane things like conveyancing, routine family law, contracts & trusts/succession.

Even for those doing the perceived morally corrupt practices, it's mostly just a job to them. They aren't in it to cause misery & harm to others. I mean c'mon, someone's got to do it.

I guess it's just the case that we are typically only aware of the two extremes, the selfless lawyers out there fighting for those in need or the perceived morally bankrupt individuals representing the worst society has to offer. The truth of the matter as I said earlier is, most lawyers are doing a number of essential, routine services that we otherwise wouldn't give a second thought to.

Being taught law does instil in you a pre-programmed response to choose a line of argument & stick to it no matter what though. I fondly remember one night out after a few drinks with a friend of my law course, when we proceeded to have a heated argument over some aspect of law. Personally, I had no qualms either way with what we were arguing about but was just finding it incredibly amusing winding my friend up by countering his every point. (I'm a nice person, honest! It was just harmless banter/practice)

Thank you counsel for that very well thought out reply but...

PS - in reference to someone saying "you'd make a good lawyer", I think there is a misconception that we are argumentative, arrogant & opinionated. That's really not true, we're as friendly & open-minded as the next person. Well most of us.
I see what you did there and I object in the strongest possible terms! I am none of those those things Well, I don't consider myself arrogant anyway

My gf has a law degree and we have lots of fun with those on point exercises. She studied commercial/contract law but when her health gets better she hopes to study civil rights law. She doesn't tell me I should have been a lawyer, she just tells me I'm a much better litigator than she is... I choose to take that as a compliment

Originally Posted by jo_thorne

Ah, so that's who "George H." is!

I read the Wikipedia article on the O'Connor v. Donaldson case. Chilling.

Maybe the law of the appeal of bad news pertains to what information we usually get about lawyers.

Thanks for this.

You're welcome and I think you have a good point

[lizardlady]

The O'Connor v. Donaldson case makes me think of some of the current rhetoric about the "mentally ill" in the media. Some enlightened souls are saying the "mentally ill" should not be allowed to drive cars after the tragedy in Oklahoma!

[Row Jimmy]

My favorite lawyer who showed us the true way in life is Fletcher Reede from "Liar, Liar".

"How do you sleep at night?! I'm takin' this"!