January 14, 2013

Some background: There are currently 1.2 million lawyers in the U.S. – more than any other country regardless of size. That’s one lawyer for every 270 citizens.

Meaningful comparisons:

• 1.1 Million U.S. military personnel, including reserve units
• 945,000 Doctors
• 800,000 Police, including federal law enforcement
• U.S. has 203 ABA accredited law schools vs. 141 medical schools.
• 2/3 of Congress have law degrees

With this disproportionate number of lawyers seeking work, is it any wonder there is so much corruption in our society? Or, so many class action law suits in which the only winners are the lawyers?

A few current examples of legal zeal:

• BP’s allegations of corruption in their Gulf Coast Settlement Agreement whereby lawyers file bogus claims and receive huge fees for ‘manufactured claims’.
• Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy from Long Island, a life-long smoker, has filed a suit claiming that clothing worn by her father, who was a boilermaker, contributed to her “asbestos-related” cancer.
• Apple Computer is currently resisting an investigator charged by an activist federal judge with proving Apple illegally fixes prices. The investigator, a lawyer, Apple claims, is disrupting operations and threatening to disclose confidential research programs to competitors. One unintended outcome may be that the company moves the bulk of research to their Beijing campus.

The moral of the story?: Mothers, don’t let your babies grow up to be lawyers. They’ll be reviled.

You are welcome!