. . . lawyers. (It used to be steel, or automobiles.) We don't need so many.

Of course lawyers won't change unless it hurts them. We need either:

1) A rule that states "If you lose the civil case, you share in the court costs and the settlement with your client." This will keep shysters, as they used to be called, from mounting frivolous lawsuits.

2) A rule that applies to every law school graduate after a certain date. Each would be required to donate 50% of his first two years' earnings to a special fund, to be used for, I don't know, maybe fixing the roads in their communities, or helping to fund space travel. This will ensure that we have fewer applicants to law school! Of course, after a few years, the numbers will fall off, but it's a good start.

There will still be enough lawyers to defend people in real cases of injustice. Those who go into law just to make big bucks will think twice; those who are called to the profession -- who would work for animal-rights organizations, or would become what used to be known as "storefront" lawyers -- won't be deterred.

Or maybe we should have both rules!

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-- Paul W. (The Benzadmiral)
('03 Buick Park Avenue, charcoal/cream)
Formerly:
'97 C230, smoke silver/parchment; '86 420SEL, anthracite/light grey; '84 280CE (W123), dark blue/palomino