Reply #5: "lawyers write the laws"? [View All]

[JDPriestly]

Just being a lawyer does not mean you are rich. Many lawyers grub away seven days a week in tiny cubby hole offices and have no say whatsoever about anything. Lots of lawyers work in public interest fields.

The public view of who lawyers are and what they do is based on the experience of the lucky few who make it to the top. As a matter of fact, if it weren't for lawyers, we would have a chaotic society. Our society would be very violent.

Many lawyers are genuinely progressive. That is not surprising if you stop to realize that the primary job of lawyers is to help people avoid conflict and help them resolve conflict when it arises.

A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting at a garden party. A doctor's wife started badmouthing lawyers saying how we gouge and charge so much. I explained that many lawyers do a lot of pro bono work. My friends were startled to hear about some of the pro bono projects I have worked on. Most of us lawyers are neither rich nor powerful. We work to help people.


There is a huge difference between the money that comes from lobbyists who represent organized industries or corporations and the money that comes from individual professionals. Lawyers and stock brokers have the same right as everyone else to give personal donations to the candidates of their choice.

As for lawyers writing laws, who better understands law and how to write it? Traditionally, people who want to work in politics get law degrees. Obama, Clinton and Edwards are all lawyers. Many of our greatest presidents have been lawyers.