Granted you need a lawyer just to guide you to the right forum here to ask a question . . . is this a debate or fact question?
But anywayz. . . . Why are there so many lawyers in the U.S.? I took a business law course and the lawyer (really a business professor who didn’t practice law) said we have the most lawyers per capita in the world.
They are like tribbles . . .
Now the ABA has accredited the 200th law school, a first in world history.
Seems to me this is intrinsically a debate, rather than something with a simple factual answer. Even if it isn’t, it’s sure to become one. So off to GD.
I think it is because it has the appearance of easy money. They figure one big case is all they need and they could be set for life. That or people often just pay attorneys to go away rather than the usually much more expensive road of taking the case to trial. Again seems like easy money.
The reality is something different but people buy lottery tickets not thinking about the reality of it.
Someone has to be able to capably represent both people and organizations before the court. Law school arguably makes one able to do so. However, competition requores that there are people who can do so and people who cannot. That is why we have an abundance of lawyers; there are those that can and those that cannot. Those that cannot find something else to do with their lives.
For the same reason we have so many real estate agents, and we have WAY more of those. It’s a field for which one only needs get the requisite training and be certified. Whether one actually makes any money at it is a different problem entirely.
Because we have a complex industrial society unlike many other countries. A complex industrial society requires many laws, which results in a lot of lawyers. It also requires that courts and lawyers be available to resolve disputes. Which is still a lot cheaper than resolving disputes with the AK-47.
Because we value fairness. Which results in more laws. Which results in more lawyers. For example, the U.S. enacted civil rights legislation in 1964 making it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of race. 40 years later, there are plenty of lawyers making a good living suing employers for race discrimination. And plenty of lawyers making a good living defending employers from charges of race discrimination. Duh. What did people expect?
I’ve heard that there are people with law degrees driving taxis in New York…but I’ve never heard of a doctors doing this.
The theory I heard is that the AMA limits the number of doctors. They want to make sure they have the very best trained people and they make sure the market isn’t oversaturated. The number of lawyers that can graduate isn’t limited which sometimes leads to a glut of them and not enough work.
Law schools are profit centers for universities. They’re relatively cheap compared to other graduate level programs – all you need is a bunch of academically oriented lawyers and a decent library. Presto! You can start minting new professionals.
The perception today is that a graduate degree is almost a necessity. Let’s say you aren’t scientifically inclined or driven enough to go to Med school, aren’t narrowly focused enough to pursue a Ph.D in an academic field and are not sufficiently a corporate suck-up to pursue an MBA. What’s left? A JD is a good generalist’s degree.
Very few of my classmates were expressly greedy or in it for the money. There were definitely a few, and their careers have followed a predictable (and profitable) path. But I think most of us were just there so we could pursue a more interesting career. There also was (is?) a perception that there was some prestige attached to attending law school.
“Was” seems more like it. Or maybe attending law school has some prestige but not being a lawyer.
Reading through their list further lawyers are 14th out of 23 categories beaten by athletes and members of Congress but still better than actors and real estate brokers.
From a practical standpoint, a law degree is also a lot more “portable” than many other graduate or professional degrees. Not only are there many types of law to practice, even if you decide that you don’t want to be an actual practicing lawyer, most businesses are glad to have a JD aboard in some capacity. If, on the other hand. you decide you don’t want to be a dentist anymore, that doesn’t translate as well to other pursuits.
The reason?
We have an archaic system of real estate property transfers. instead of a modern, understandable, error-proof system, we have a system that requires verification of the actual ownership of the property (title search). You also need a search to uncover liens and judgements against the property. Then you need to know about arrangements made about the use of the property (local zoning, easements). because of the complicated nature of this stuff, you need a lawyer to research it-and then you need to buy title insurance (to protect yourself in case the lawyer screws up).
The archaic nature of property law is a big reason so many lawyers are required. Don’t look for reform though-you would be putting lawyers out of work.
That is why the USA is such a strange country-constanly moving ahead with technology, but hamstrung by the antique legal system.
Ask the average American to name a profession where you earn a lot of money, prestige, social status, and money. Most likely, the most common answers are “doctor” and “lawyer.” So, if you want a life where you have a lot of money and respect and status, those are common choices. But doctoring requires a lot of science, plus it’s messy, whereas if you’re a lawyer you just shuffle papers and make dramatic speeches in courtrooms. Add to that all the heroic and glamorous lawyer characters we’ve all seen in movies and TV, and it’s little wonder that people decide lawyering would be a good career choice. (Of course, the reality doesn’t always match the image…)
In addition, for those who have political ambitions, the most common route to politics is through law.
I think the fact that it is ideed a very good general education that’s easily marketable across a wide spectrum of business as well as areas of practice is the number one reason.
So off to GD.