"Why I do what I do ! " Topic

This is a fun article to read-- I agree with most of it

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Basically, it amounts to 'they can become rich easier than other people'

Very ,very few lawyers are extraordinarily wealthy ( And most of those few made their money outside a law practice). The riches come in those cases where we are making a difference for some people who cannot help themselves. A law degree is a ticket to a great career but there are better ways to making money than working 70 hours a week and having people's lives in your hands. But then, getting an acquittal for an innocent person is the third best feeling in the world. It's priceless.

I'm confident that is true for attorneys in criminal
defence practice – but what about those like our
late Senator John Edwards, who amassed a pile in cases
seeking compensation for damages to clients ?

My father-in-law was an attorney. Although he largely practiced labor law, and did the occasional will, etc., his proudest moment as an attorney was assisting in an adoption. In those days, the birth parent(s) and the adopting parents did not meet; legally, a third party had to deliver the baby to the adopting family. That third party was my father-in-law. He always remembered walking down the hospital hall with that precious new life in his arms, carrying the baby to a couple who longed for a child, and would treasure and love this little one to the end of their days. As a career moment, that's hard to top. As a true service to society, it's pretty up there, too.

Oh, and thanks for the link. My wife just passed the Bar, and desires a less traditional career than the litigating attorney, so it's nice to have a point of reference as we plan for her future. In the info on other jobs, I spotted a few areas (like eDiscovery) which she is already interested in.

Parzival…. and may that be the last bar she passes by. As to the former Senator John Edwards -- he spent his fortune hiring criminal lawyers to save him from his outrageous behavior.

But many bave followed in his path. Ads around here that basically say, 'If your child has cerebral palsy, we'll make sure you collect from somebody who was in the room when you delivered.'

Very ,very few lawyers are extraordinarily wealthy

Many, many lawyers are wealthy, extraordinary or not.

Not saying it is a bad thing, just a simple observation from my experience. Your View May Very.

he spent his fortune hiring criminal lawyers to save him from his outrageous behavior.

But how many slip and fall lawyers handle those same sort of cases but don't have his legal fees?

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Of course HE isn't Lowell Stanley – that's about the fifth guy I've seen over the decades playing the role. I suspect the real Lowell "the hammer" Stanley looks like a shorter, less heavy version of Wally Peepers, but without the dominating presence and gravitas that Mr Peepers brings to the scene:

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and I am referring to the genuine, original, not the SNL version.

Specialists in the health profession seem to do better, but you have to admit the lawyers are right up there, as compared to the peons, peasants, coolies and serfs like all of us non-lawyers.

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I'm a police officer so its pretty much a given that I have a low opinion of lawyers as a whole. :)

My biggest problem with the profession is that defense attorneys are not concerned and could care less about the truth. They don't, they can't, argue their client didn't do it, they argue technicalities and legal fictions. The most honest one I've seen is the one from Texas who had the billboard that read: "Just because you did it, it doesn't mean you're guilty."

"Technicalities and legal fictions"? Like the Constitution and the Bill of Rights?

It's the State's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

No, I've had defense attorneys argue that when I stopped a vehicle for having the third brake light out that it wasn't a brake light, but a reflector. When everyone in the room knows that since the late 80's all cars are required to have a third brake light.

Or that crossing the center line isn't enough to stop a vehicle even though code requires that you stay inside the lines.

Or with today's climate that if something isn't on video you can't trust the officer's word.

We have one that practices here who is also a state senator. In Virginia the senate appoints judges, and he sits on the committee that chooses the judges from among other defense attorneys!