Does this bother any one else?

[Phuket2006]

SURPRISE: The U.S. is home to 80% of the world's lawyers

It's not only the government on the attack. Lawyers are seeking deep pockets everywhere to sue, filing over 50,000 lawsuits every day.

[MoodyMac]

Doesn't bother me as long as they stay there.

[Devo]

It's a disgusting testimony to todays total lack of morals. Lazy shitheads trying to 'legally' steal another's wealth.

They should go out and give value to society if they want wealth and the lawyers should be put in re-education centres and not rewarded financially for f*ing over innocents as they currently are.

(There are not 50,000 wrongdoing evil overlords oppressing the poor everyday).

[Alex]

Indeed, I think the more rotten society is, the more lawyers they'll need. It seems to be a fairly good indicator for the decline of moral and values.

[Lucky Lucan]

Doesn't bother me as long as they stay there.

There are a few of them over here already...and at least two on this forum.

[vladimir]

Doesn't bother me as long as they stay there.

There are a few of them over here already...and at least two on this forum.

There goes the 'hood.

[ChicagoGuy]

In terms of how many lawyers there are in the US, there are definitely more than the market can bear. There are many factors involved for why the supply of lawyers has now far exceeded demand. Part of the problem is that a "law school industry" was created, where people saw getting a law degree as a "sure fire" way of having a good career and making good money, which, for many, was true. As a side note, in case some people aren't aware, a law degree in the US is a doctorate level degree (a Juris Doctorate) , we don't use the LLB degree in the US like you see in some European countries. There was profit potential here for the schools and the number of law schools in the US (and the tuition they charged) grew over the years. There are now over 250 accredited law schools in the US producing way more law grads than the industry needs. Also, connected to this were the economic bubbles that the US was experiencing over the previous couple decades. The banking and finance industry grew immensely in conjunction with the housing and technology industries, and this fueled a demand for lawyers. Hopefully, the condition of oversupply will adjust itself naturally as more and more new lawyers find themselves unable to find work and fewer people choose to go through the time and expense involved of getting a law degree. However, for most people who obtained law degrees from 2008 onward, this will mean having to give up on a legal career and finding another way to survive while paying off your 150K - 200K in student loans.

[gavinmac]

The problem is that the bar exams in the U.S. are too easy. In most states 65% -90% of the test takers pass the bar. Of the people who pass, 2/3 are not smart enough to effectively practice law. They should just grade the bar exams on a curve where the top 1/3 of the scores pass and everyone else fails. Problem solved.

[ChicagoGuy]

I agree, the bar exam was much too easy. I completed the (2 day) exam in half the time permitted and slept through the rest (you aren't allowed to leave early). In between the first and second day (after realizing how easy it was) I went out drinking with my friends.

Making the bar exam much more difficult would help fix the problem.

[edit] and the sad thing was, I would wake up as the proctors were announcing that time was up and I would see people around me crying and furiously scribbling answers. If you were having that much trouble with the exam, then you obviously shouldn't have been able to earn a doctorate level law degree in the first place.

[connecticuter]

CG,

I found it interesting that you believe that the bar exam is sufficiently easy to let unintelligent people pass. I would have thought that the LSAT did this.

A few years back one of my cousins with law school ambitions asked me to tutor her for her upcoming LSAT. She had previously taken it twice, but was unable to get a score that would land her into a 2nd or 1st tier law school. She had profound trouble with the analytical reasoning section and the logical reasoning section. I worked with her for a few months at least a twice a week. Her score did imporove significantly, but not enough to get her to a decent school. Now she is a paralegal or a legal secretary (I forget which).

My experience working with her led me to regret not attending lawschool (I was too in debt to even think about it). I had assumed that my background in philosophy (especially logic) was the reason why I found the LSAT so easy. That being said, I just find it a bit hard to believe that someone that can pass the LSAT (which does require critical thinking skills) and then survives law school is unintelligent. Such people would likely be in the top percentiles of intelligence, no? What am I missing here?

[ChicagoGuy]

There is no pass/fail for the LSAT. Your cousin wanted a score good enough to get into a 1st or 2nd tier school. You can attend a 3rd or 4th tier school with an abysmally low score and then graduate from that school with no functional ability to practice law in the real world.

CG,

She had previously taken it twice, but was unable to get a score that would land her into a 2nd or 1st tier law school.

That being said, I just find it a bit hard to believe that someone that can pass the LSAT (which does require critical thinking skills) and then survives law school is unintelligent. Such people would likely be in the top percentiles of intelligence, no? What am I missing here?

[vladimir]

Indeed, I think the more rotten society is, the more lawyers they'll need. It seems to be a fairly good indicator for the decline of moral and values.

An indicator or a cause?

[ChicagoGuy]

I know everyone likes to engage in lawyer bashing. The idea that all or most lawyers are unscrupulous, sleazy, do anything for a buck type people is ludicrous. Everyone should know that painting any group of people with a broad brush and assuming that they are all the same as the lowest common denominator is unfair. As was mentioned in another thread here recently, it's not fair to say that all Khmer women act like bar girls. The vast majority of lawyers are highly ethical and professional people who perform extremely important and valuable services for their clients.

So enough of this kind of nonsense:

It's a disgusting testimony to todays total lack of morals. Lazy shitheads trying to 'legally' steal another's wealth.

They should go out and give value to society if they want wealth and the lawyers should be put in re-education centres and not rewarded financially for f*ing over innocents as they currently are.

(There are not 50,000 wrongdoing evil overlords oppressing the poor everyday).

Indeed, I think the more rotten society is, the more lawyers they'll need. It seems to be a fairly good indicator for the decline of moral and values.

An indicator or a cause?

[connecticuter]

There are a lot of lawyers that engage in routine tasks that keep society well oiled: allowing essential real estate transactions, divorce, etc...

Also, I have to admit I had a very simplistic view of the whole tort reform issue for some time. "Hot coffee" was a nice documentary that tries to depoliticize the issue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Coffee_%28film%29

[Nirvana]

I'm pleased somebody brought up 'Hot Coffee.' Unethical corporations and big business politicians managed to convince US society and much of the world that frivilious lawsuits abound and money-hungry civillians are out to destroy businesses at every turn for a quick buck. Particularly sad is how most people will never know the truth about that poor old lady gruesomely burned by that scalding hot coffee. I'm glad her family got a chance to speak out even though most people still think some clumsy lady dumped her cup while driving and demanded MILLIONS AND MILLIONS from vulnerable, ethics-and-standards abiding McDonalds to pay for a boo-boo.