A Lawyer or a Lance - Your Choice

I read an opinion piece today that had a good point, so I wanted to share it, in defense of my chosen profession. :-)

[The article begins by remarking on the dread a lawyer might feel at a party when someone asks that unavoidable question, "So what do you do."] In case you couldn't guess, lawyers, along with anoyone else who introduces themselves as a murderer, devil-worshipper or terrorist, are often on the receiving end of the negative label described above. . . . Can lawyers really be this bad? I maintain that lawyers are really no worse than other vocation.

[ The article then reminds us that businessmen and accountants are responsible for major corporate scandals, plenty of doctors make money by pedaling to people's vanity, computer engineers and scientists have created "a world of less human interaction and easier access to porn" and priests are the face of child molestation today. It then goes on to speculate why then lawyers are the ones w/ the really bad rep.]

"The core reason could be that whenever an atrocity is committed, the public sees the lawyer front and center answering questions in place of the accused. Even though we might not ourselves commit the appalling act, we are seen as somehow justifying it, as though carrying out our duty to represent our client to the best of our abilities makes us co-conspirators. . . . Until we as a society can come up with a better means to settle our disputes, or possibly regain the medieval affinity for jousting, utilizing attorneys will remain the most effective method to do the job.

Which reminds me, incidentally, of the 1L whose food was stolen out of the communal fridge a few weeks ago. He sent out an email over the student list serve, demanding satisfaction either by returning the food or by pistols at dawn - and cited the entire ancient English code for how such duals should be conducted. Just in case the thief didn't have the code memorized off hand, you know.

And yes, I know a few of you are going to tell me that you'd prefer the lance.