# Are you a lawyer? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 14, 2009, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-lawyer/517535 "2009-11-14T06:58:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-lawyer/517535/41 "2009-11-16T14:01:15Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > Engineers create wealth, and lawyers take it away. Hey, thanks for stopping in to disparage our profession! ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-lawyer/517535/42 "2009-11-16T14:27:27Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > Engineers create wealth, and lawyers take it away. Interesting enough, I was reading a book by L. Sprague de Camp called _The Ancient Engineers_. One of his comments was that the one item universally associated with rapid, modern-style innovation and wealth-creation from engineering was – a sound legal system, and in particular, some form of protection for intellectual property. In short, engineers _cannot_ create weath _effectively_ without lawyers. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-lawyer/517535/43 "2009-11-16T14:49:10Z")
Well, I guess I count as a US lawyer. I am a furriner, who is qualified and practicing in the US. And not qualified elsewhere. And **Vunderbob** , if you stop building shit that kills people, I guess we’ll stop suing you. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-lawyer/517535/44 "2009-11-16T14:57:41Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > Engineers create wealth, and lawyers take it away. Sweet deal, eh? Amazing how the engineers usually fall for that. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-lawyer/517535/45 "2009-11-16T15:03:47Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > What is up with there being no former lawyers here? Engineers got em. Bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-lawyer/517535/46 "2009-11-16T15:07:38Z")
US intellectual property lawyer. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-lawyer/517535/47 "2009-11-16T16:24:53Z")
> [@I'm Not Dennis Bergkamp](#): > > US intellectual property lawyer. My sympathies. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-lawyer/517535/48 "2009-11-16T16:36:24Z")
I’m a paralegal. This has provided me with sufficient information to determine I don’t want to be a lawyer. That was easy. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-lawyer/517535/49 "2009-11-16T18:33:41Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > I’m a paralegal. This has provided me with sufficient information to determine I don’t want to be a lawyer. That was easy. I want that writ petition filed by 3 pm tommorrow and before that, I need caselaw on the defination of “false information” in section 492 of the Companies Act, should be on my desk when I get back from Court, (have you reminded the witness BTW) and then I need you to photocopy and organise all 800 pages of documents for the Anti-Dumping case we are doing, am having a client conferance tommorrow evening… Oh sorry mate, forgive me, force of habit.😃 Why on earth would anyone want to be a paralegal, especially when I am the Barrister is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-lawyer/517535/50 "2009-11-16T20:22:04Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > My sympathies. Much appreciated, thanks. 🙂 All in all, though, it’s a relatively sweet gig, as litigation jobs go. ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-lawyer/517535/51 "2009-11-16T21:06:16Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I enjoy the rattly sound my soul makes inside me. I would miss that if I went to law school. You get used to the quiet after a month or two… ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-lawyer/517535/52 "2009-11-16T22:04:41Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Once a lawyer, always a lawyer, unless you get disbarred or surrender your license. Even those that don’t practice are still lawyers. Yeah, I was thinking that being a lawyer is kind of like being Catholic in that respect.\* Hence my poll answer: yes, I’m a US lawyer, despite the fact that I haven’t practiced in almost seven years, and I’m equally likely to become a lactation consultant or a bookstore salesperson as I am to re-engage in law when I go back to work. I’m also not allowed to practice right now - I’m on “inactive” status with the bar and have to take some CLE courses and make a motion to be made active again. Also, FYI, I am married to an engineer, but he’s non-practicing as well. \*Also, the evil. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-lawyer/517535/53 "2009-11-16T22:23:03Z")
Live a little. Spend a year or two practicing engineering while your spouse practices law. Don’t worry about the licences, that’s just fine print anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-lawyer/517535/54 "2009-11-16T22:49:58Z")
Not a lawyer: but I think my 10 year old daughter is leaning that way. She’s wanted to be a veterinarian since she was 3: now she wants to be a lawyer. She’s already presenting logical arguments. Maybe she has a gift. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-lawyer/517535/55 "2009-11-16T23:11:25Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > I have a law degree and passed the Bar for my state. However, I am still awaiting admission to the Bar, which takes several months in my state. Since I anticipate admission, I chose “Yes I am a US lawyer.” Technically, though, it isn’t true. I’m in the same position, but I haven’t the nerve to chose the “US Lawyer” option. The Maryland Board of Law Examiners scares me. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-lawyer/517535/56 "2009-11-16T23:46:29Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Live a little. Spend a year or two practicing engineering while your spouse practices law. Don’t worry about the licences, that’s just fine print anyway. Now that you mention it, we do pretty much have the same name . . . Nah - I tried to explain to him the difference between issues of fact and issues of law, and his head nearly exploded. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-lawyer/517535/57 "2009-11-18T00:03:57Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > Nah - I tried to explain to him the difference between issues of fact and issues of law, and his head nearly exploded. Next time he gets uppity, explain the rule against perpetuities.😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-lawyer/517535.md?page=2)