I have no problems with lawyers (BTW I AM NOT ONE if that is what you are thinking) however a LOT of people seem to dislike them....why? Don't they help us out in need...and give free legal advice too sometimes? Who else out their just gives their service away? The only way I can see someone not likeing them is if they are defending a HANOUS crime ie:pedaphiles, murder, etc...although everyone has a right to counsel......basically my question is why do most people not like them?
2006-09-03 08:09:18 · 10 answers · asked by carebarri 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
coragryph is right. Most people don't understand how it works and as in many professions, the acts of a few have tainted the rest.
Most lawyers are necessary for a fair society. Lots of people like to misquote Shakespeare where he mentions killing all the lawyers, the problem is the actual saying continues to mention the hell that would exist if that were done.
If you are wronged, often times you don't have the time or knowledge to make it right; lawyers do. If you are accused of a wrong against another, same thing.
If you are charged with a crime, you have a right to be defended (and their job is to make the prosecution do it right, not to get their client "off") which is guaranteed to make sure the system is as fair as it can be. And I hope we all recognize the importance of prosecutors for trying to keep society safe.
I personally fault (at least in CA) the advertising. Before that, people had much better opinions of lawyers. But how often can you hear, "I don't care if the accident was your fault - I'll get you money" before you believe lawyers are the biggest money grubbing, slimey lot there is. (not to mention the number of people calling that number daily).
And usually the people who speak personally about hating lawyers found themselves needing one and was not happy with the outcome. Then there is all the paperwork and stuff that has to be done because everyone is then afraid of being sued.
So, since you do not see the lawyers advertising that they will take cases for free (which many do) or defending the rights of the downtrodden, the impression left with the average person is that lawyers will lie cheat and steal their way to more and more money.
Then the news mentions the million dollar verdict for someone who got hot coffee and the lawyer is to blame (which they are, but remember, the amount of the award came from average citizens, jurors. )There are, however, ethical rules we all have to work by, some just don't pay much attention to them.
Thanks for the opportunity to mention the good they can do.
2006-09-03 08:46:26 · answer #1 · answered by grim reaper 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mostly because people don't understand how the law works.
People think the law should always end up with the 'correct' solution, but it is really a complex and imperfect set of rules, like a huge game with real consequences.
Lawyers follow the rules, and many of them abuse the rules, to get the results their clients want. And those results are often unfair, because of how the game got played. Too man people don't understand the rules, so they don't understand the result.
The other part of the problem is that because the legal game is all results-oriented, too many lawyers bend the rules and abuse them to get what their clients want. And like drug use in professional sports, this behavior has become so accepted that only the most horrible violations ever get punished.
Personally, I don't like more than half of the lawyers I've worked with (or for, or against). I think far too many of them abandon the spirit of the ethical rules just to win the game. But that's true of any profession, and the rest of us do the best we can to try and make things right.
2006-09-03 08:11:27 · answer #2 · answered by coragryph 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
No one goes to lawyer that doesn't have a problem. Lawyers are seen as dishonest because they take up the cause of the highest bidder regardless of the facts. People are under the misguided idea that "Justice system" is synonymous with "Justice". And blame lawyers when the system results in an unjust result. Lastly Lawyers are often seen as arrogant. For example if there is a legal problem turning upon plumbing, Lawyers believe that they can solve it better than plumbers.
2006-09-03 10:06:45 · answer #3 · answered by Pete D 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I work with them all the time, and out of the 100 or so attorneys I have worked with I can think of 3 I would let handle a case for me.
They are bloated, arrogant assholes who aren't actually trained in the law, they just bs'd their way through law school and don't know ****, and when they lose they blame the client.
And I don't know any that work for free, are you kidding?? I've seen $200 an hour up to $600 an hour and they're all bad.
They feed off people's misery like bottom dwelling parasites.
2006-09-03 08:37:11 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Lawyers manipulate jurors to let their client off. Many times that is a murder,pedophile, mugger, con artist, etc.. When it is justified the innocent client still may pay as much as 50% of a settlement to a lawyer. Law abiding citizens have lost, home, money, and freedom because of a lawyer. They are lower than a tax collector.
2006-09-03 08:23:22 · answer #5 · answered by jackie 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Most people disliking lawyers dislike them on account of ignorance: they have neither any understanding of the law nor any understanding of due process (which is related, but different).
The remainder disliking lawyers are people having contempt for the principles fundamental to ethics.
2006-09-03 08:17:36 · answer #6 · answered by wireflight 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There actually are great lawyers out there but there are so many bad and corrupt lawyers that people tend to dislike lawyers in general...............I've met several lawyers, including my uncle, and I haven't had such a great experience myself.
2006-09-03 08:15:53 · answer #7 · answered by ♥ Arvizu16 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lawyers have earned their bad reputation. Don't feel sorry for them. You will learn some day. They are all sleazy and underhanded and would sell their own mother for a dollar. My parents were screwed by a lawyer. They told him to insure the pool and he did. If the house fell on the pool, they would replace the pool. But because the pool just fell in on itself, my folks had to pay to have it replaced themselves. Almost everyone has a lawyer story to tell you and how he or she cheated them.
2006-09-03 08:14:44 · answer #8 · answered by John16 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I'm a law student, lawyers tend to stick to the facts. They are very strategic.
2006-09-03 08:15:35 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because they are so overpaid, tend to be dishonest and get rich off other people's hardtimes.
2006-09-03 08:19:43 · answer #10 · answered by Radiation 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋