During law school orientation, a speaker gave an excellent explanation of why lawyers didn’t deserve the bad rap they get bombarded with in jokes. (Something about that we’re the advocates- the ones standing up for justice; and that there’s other professions that are way more corrupt, like corporate executives.)
Does anyone know where I can find a well-written paragraph to this effect?
Just goes to show you – a “good” lawyer can make even seemingly intelligent people believe anything.
Well, probably the best comeback I’ve seen was on a button:
“If you don’t like lawyers, next time your arrested, call a comedian.”
On a more philosophical note, being an advocate doesn’t always mean you’re standing up for justice; there are plenty of cases where a lawyer’s job is to obscure justice.
Just tell 'em that we know how to stab someone who pisses us off and get away with it. 
–Cliffy
Some of the best lawyer jokes I’ve heard have been told to me by lawyers!
I know where to find it but I can’t give it to you. It is written in language that you wouldn’t be able to understand yourself. Likewise, the copyright on the passage is under dispute and has been tied up in the courts for many years.
I disagree. An ethical lawyer is first and foremost an officer of the court, and his / her role is to serve justice. Generally, the best way to do this is to serve the client zealously, but there are ethical limits on such acts.
I hope this doesn’t sound smug, but lawyer jokes are an inevitable consequence of dealing with an elite in an egalitarian society (for Australian lawyers, with the added benefit of a nationally institionalised tall poppy syndrome). Lawyers often won’t make as much as their clients, but legislatures are full of them. Jokes at lawyers’ expense are probably a healthy way for the community generally to deal with lawyers.
I agree. We don’t have as many doctor jokes because doctors don’t have as much of a sense of humor about themselves. I wonder if most lawyer jokes are made up by lawyers!
We naturally fear the mystery of the law and the apparent power that lawyers have over us. So naturally we want to make fun of them. A few deserve it, most don’t. Legislators, lawyers, doctors, and police: we distrust them, but what’s the alternative?
I think if they’d just go ahead and let copulation thrive, a lot of the hostility would evaporate.
Just threaten to pass laws making lawyer jokes into hate speach. That will shut your antagonists right up.
Just grow some thicker skin already.
I have been, at various times in my life, a fast food employee, a salesclerk at a department store, an intern, a temp, a college student, an enlisted sailor in the Navy and a systems engineer.
I have heard numerous jokes about all of those occupations.
Now, why should we spare your job from a bit of humor? That doesn’t seem at all fair, does it?
Tell me about it. Who hasn’t heard:
Why won’t a snake bite a fast food employee? Professional courtesy
What’s the difference between a dead salesclerk on the side of the road and a dead skunk on the side of the road? There are skid marks in front of the skunk.
What’s the difference between an intern and a bucket of horse poop? The bucket.
You are stranded on a desert island with Jeffrey Dahmer, David Berkowitz, and a temp. You have a gun but only two bullets. What do you do? Shoot the temp twice.
What do honest enlisted sailors and UFOs have in common? You always hear about them, but you never see them.
and who could forget . . .
Why does California have the most systems engineers and New Jersey have the most toxic waste dumps? New Jersey got first pick.
Actually, I remember reading “somewhere” several years ago that a president of a local bar association attempted to have legislation introduced that would have done just that. He was all but laughed out of existence; a reaction that baffled him.
You’re right. 99% of the lawyers give the rest a bad name.
Remember for every lawyer defending the ‘good’ guys there is usually a plague (Colony? Pack? swarm? mischief? What is the term for many lawyers?) of them defending the ‘bad’ guys.
I have no idea where to find the quote, but the title sounded like a cryptogram clue.
Shagnasty, very funny.
Here, and I thought this thread would be about jokes on how to stop lawyers.
Yeah, but please tell me where exactly are you going to find an ethical lawyer?