"According to the Statistical Abstract of the United States ... in 1980 there was one lawyer per 403 people in the U.S., by 1990 that number rose to one lawyer per 340, and by the year 2000, the proportion is estimated to be one lawyer per 300 people."...

Soon there will be more lawyers than clients -- it will be good to see lawyers suing only lawyers. This writer suggests that the most lucrative practice in law will become lawyers suing other lawyers.

In the New York Post, August 21, 1997 edition, Judge Jackie Silbermann, of New York matrimonial court, stated:

"Unlike most civil cases, lawyers in matrimonial cases don't get a piece of the action. They are paid by the hour, so they want to keep the meter running. So they flood the court with motions which slows everything down and keeps their billing up."

The writer suggests that this same court and billing procedure is applicable to probate, bankruptcy, tort, and any other cases which are not based on a contingency relationship.

In a 1997 Louis Harris and Associates Poll on the public esteem of various occupations, the public opinion of lawyers dropped from 36% in 1977 to 1997's 19%. Did they include lawyers in their interviews to get such a high rating from the public?

For comparison, doctors received a public opinion rating of 52% in 1997 in the same poll.

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Created September 10, 1997

Last modified April 20, 1999