I worked for 9 years for the largest legal publisher west of the Mississippi, with law journals all over the western U.S. Almost all of the reporters and editorial staff were themselves members of the bar, and it was generally speaking enough of a negative experience—through no actions of my own—to cause me to look askance at the whole industry. Nevertheless, I have also known splendid people of high integrity who are attorneys, one of whom is one of my very best friends. That old Shakespearean quote about "first kill all of the lawyers" is often quoted way out of context. Taken IN context, the quote is meant to show how important lawyers are to an orderly and just society. The real problem of course is not that the profession is inherently a bad one, but rather that because of the power that emanates from being in the profession, it often draws people of low character to it.......just like political careers. Since character is unrelated to intelligence, lack of it is no impediment to passing the bar. And, the bar often has a different idea of what constitutes justice than it means to people of average means who find themselves on the receiving end of someone else's legal attack dog.
The problem isn't the profession, it is mankind's fallen condition.
