Public Image of Lawyers

[brat_man_7]

Just wondering? I often hear negative comments about the law profession. Why is the public image of lawyers so bad? In comparisson the medical and engineering professions are rated well above that of the legal profession. Just curious on what other members think.


Cheers.

 

[Don]

I think it is mainly defense lawyers that people have a negative image of. They defend criminals or try to get their sentences minimized for a buck. Them and those accident lawyers who try to squeeze as much money as they can out of a case (ex. - the millions of dollars won by some dumb girl who spilled hot mcdonalds coffee on her legs because she was driving with the coffee being held between her legs and she sued mcdonalds). A lot of sports agents (who the average fan hates) have a law background (surprise!). It's a lawyers job to interpret the law and find legal loop holes and to twist the law into their favor as much as they can. It's tough to root for people like that vs the doctor who helps sick people or the engineer who designs a new car.

 

[Pallydin]

I think it is less the lawyers that are the problem so much as our adversarial style of justice. Lawyers are paid to oppose things they don't believe in just because they are paid too much to do so; in essense, they are professional liars and fakes (and who ever likes someone you *know* can convincingly lie without a second thought?).

If our system of Law were to be changed into one that persued Truth instead of guilt or innocence, then lawyers would be moving towards the common goals of seeing things right instead of half trying to do the right things and the other half trying to prevent it (and I mean this as happening from both the prosecution and defense as obviously some prosecutions are malicious).

PAL

 

[Perry Mason]

Pallydin...

I don't agree totally with everything you said, but you did hit one nail bang right on the head.

It is the adversarial mentality, the win/lose, zero sum game that we have been mind-raped into playing, particularly by The Church and The Government. But not only in the law, but in everything else too: politics... economics... sports... education... we are taught from the very beginning that everything in this world is "I win, you lose."

That is why we have wars... in everything we do. And that is why we are headed to hell in a hand basket.

* and PM steps off his podium and disappears into the sunset*

Perry

 

[WhOiSyOdAdDy?]

Politicians rank down there with pond scum and lawyers rank just slightly below politicians

 

[wollensak]

Lawyers - Necessary Evil

My advice to anyone would be: get someone to arbitrate your
disagreements. The use of lawyers should be avoided wherever possible.

All that happens when lawyers become involved is that nothing is resolved, the meter just keeps running and running. Eventually
both sides come to realize that they should settle "out of court".
By that time of course, both sides have lost more money than they stood to gain, and guess who walks away with the loot?

The civil courts are open to endless delaying tactics. There is also no penalty that I can see for frivolous legal actions. Dishonest
lawyers are seldom punished for enticing their clients into fruitless lawsuits. You have to be really rotten to be disbarred.

If you are lucky you will escape legal action within your lifetime.
If not, at the end of the day, you'll likely have trouble figuring out if you "won" or "lost".

 

[papasmerf]

consider the fact that l;ike other bottom feeders, like shrip and lobster. Lawyers are also expensive, even the bad ones.

 

[ojsimpson]

Tort reform

Just corporate lawsuits alone are 2% of the American GDP. All those class action lawsuits are driving up the prices for everything. As Canadians we also feel it in terms of higher prices when we buy American Goods.

The Yankees could use some tort reform.

 

[papasmerf]

Re: Tort reform

Just corporate lawsuits alone are 2% of the American GDP. All those class action lawsuits are driving up the prices for everything. As Canadians we also feel it in terms of higher prices when we buy American Goods.

The Yankees could use some tort reform.

Like Will Rodgers said "if ya want to fix what is worng with this country. Just shoot all the lawyers".

Seems Will was a pretty smart fella

 

[Perry Mason]

Don Quijote...

I hear you and, for the most part, I agree with you.

This is not one-upmanship, but I have been a lawyer even longer than you! Nearly 39 years!

I started out as a prosecutor, then defence counsel, then civil litigator. But, IMHO, our profession ceased to be an honourable profession when we became purveyors of legal services...

Your nick and what you write tells me that you and I probably had similar motivations for choosing our profession... but, amongst lawyers, you and I are in a very small minority today!

Perry

 

[taiga]

Lawyers or mice?

There are more lawyers than white mice it seems today.
Which is more valuable?
Lawyers or white mice?

 

[jwmorrice]

Re: Lawyers or mice?

There are more lawyers than white mice it seems today.
Which is more valuable?
Lawyers or white mice?

So, should we use lawyers in medical experiments??

jwm

 

[Perry Mason]

Of course, the other side of the coin is that those who seemingly hate us most are the most sycopanthic when something happens to them and they need a lawyer!

Perry

 

[Perry Mason]

Re: PM, bro.

The law is the last hope of all of us.

About that there is no doubt.

Even if our legal system is the best there is from the choices now available, that does not mean that we cannot do better. Much better!

Reminds me of Churchill's observation that democracy is the worst possible form of government, except for all the others that have been tried.

Now, if I were to try to answer your question in full, I would have to write a book about all the other possibilities that have not been tried. Remember the Biblical injunction? "Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God."

Has no one else noticed that the deterrent theory of justice does not deter? If it did, then crime would have been conquered at least a century ago, when the courts began to deter!!!

Perry

 

[Quest4Less]

The main thing wrong with lawyers is that they try to get the guilty off. It is one thing to defend the innocent, but when you know your client is guilty all you should be doing is pleading guilty and throwing your client on the mercy of the court. A lawyer should NEVER under ANY circumstances try to get a guilty client off.

 

[the ironmonger]

Quote from Quest4Less The main thing wrong with lawyers is that they try to get the guilty off. It is one thing to defend the innocent, but when you know your client is guilty all you should be doing is pleading guilty and throwing your client on the mercy of the court. A lawyer should NEVER under ANY circumstances try to get a guilty client off.

hey, Q4L -- how does the lawyer know the client is guilty? Suppose the client says he's innocent, but the lawyer thinks he's guilty? Should the lawyer follow Q4L, and sell his client up the river? -- this is the client, remember, who says he is innocent, and is paying the lawyer to do his best to get the case dismissed. We have judges and juries to decide whether people are guilty -- not lawyers. If the lawyer cannot defend the client properly, which means presenting the client's case in the most advantageous way, he must withdraw - he has no other option.

If the client admits or tells his lawyer he is guilty, every code of legal ethics in the world says the lawyer cannot represent the client if he then pleads not guilty.

We shouldn't judge any profession by the (few) practitioners who dont follow the profession's code of ethics. Not doctors. Not engineers. Not lawyers.

 

[benito]

All you have to do is be on the wrong side of your wife's divorce lawyer once and you will hate the profession forever.

 

[Quest4Less]

hey, Q4L -- how does the lawyer know the client is guilty? Suppose the client says he's innocent, but the lawyer thinks he's guilty? Should the lawyer follow Q4L, and sell his client up the river? -- this is the client, remember, who says he is innocent, and is paying the lawyer to do his best to get the case dismissed. We have judges and juries to decide whether people are guilty -- not lawyers. If the lawyer cannot defend the client properly, which means presenting the client's case in the most advantageous way, he must withdraw - he has no other option.

If the client admits or tells his lawyer he is guilty, every code of legal ethics in the world says the lawyer cannot represent the client if he then pleads not guilty.

A little naive there eh? Lawyers defend people they know are guilty all the time (mainly cause they are greedy bastards who want the clients money). Then there are the times that they try to get clients off on "technicalities", even though they know the client is guilty. Yes, if a client is innocent they deserve to be defended. Otherwise... PLEAD GUILTY.

 

[gala]

lawyers...

Have you ever actually dealt with lawyers? We're talking about people who file lawsuits they KNOW they will lose, just to force you to negotiate a settlement, etc., and who somehow find a way to make almost everything insanely expensive--so expensive that ordinary people frequently do not have realistic access to the law.

 

[papasmerf]

As much as I find LAwyers to be Bottom Feeders I will admit they are just providing a service people thing they want. Has anyone noted the rise in frivolus law suits and LAWYERS being alloed to advertise???????

I know a couple of very good attornies who I trust, but that is 2.