posted on May, 30 2007 @ 08:32 PM
seattlelaw, I must beg difference with you on the shallowness of my views. It is your own over inflated view of worth and ego that cause you to see
things in this light. I am scarce some 'still wet behind the ears' babe in the world, relying on TV trash to form my opinions.
And I agree that most lawyers don't step right into the lap of luxury and a new Beamer. Like any guild, you need first prove your worth with a lowly
apprenticeship. This shows your masters your loyalty to the system that spawns such. How else will the overlords of sleaze know whom to reward with
the perks of ill got booty? Your loyalty to the overriding principle of soulless behavior is thus proven, and your future worth judged.
And in your drudge work, you give the value to those you serve it's due by lackluster effort, most often using the torture wheel of plea bargaining
to lessen the load on you and your higher placed cousins. All the while dreaming of the coming salvation of a place in the bowels of a firm like
Dewey, Cheatum, & Howe when you are elevated to a suit and tie that isn't bought at K-Mart.
As to the 99% who never pay, that is at variance with studies on recidivism that shows a marked relationship between crime and the amount of attorney
fees owed. Sure, the poor and downtrodden, in their rags are a fact, but they scarcely constitute much of a burden on prosperity. They are simply the
practice cadavers on which you learn your trade.
And at least my son-in-law the pimp has a job where he speaks English, as opposed to a dead language, and his clients are willing, and usually leave
with a smile, which is more than most people do from any legal entanglement. And though, like your customers do, he is paid ahead of time, he doesn't
find most of his clients in a dungeon.
And what of those of your ilk who do work for the state, with all of it's resources? Are they not lawyers too? And yearly, as the new political
drafts create vacancies, are not some of you from the minor leagues called forth to battle on the other side of the fence? Does it not speak volumes
for your morals that you can go from defense to prosecution in such ease? To ooze from one moral position to another with scarce a tremble or shudder
can hardly endorse you as paragons of virtue.
And speaking of these stalwarts of safety, what good is this plea bargain system? It is not justice for either faction. If a man is guilty of a crime,
then it is injustice to lessen his punishment out of laziness. Conversely, it is horror to force the innocent to choose between forever and a much
lesser time in the dungeons of the beastmasters. All it serves is the conviction rate, so highly publicized when prosecutors go on to run for
office.
Now the law of averages says that there must be a few good apples in every rotten barrel, and throughout this missive I have used the pronoun "you".
Please understand that I do not mean that in a personal way, using it only as representative of those you proudly associate with in your chosen line
of work, and not as a slander towards yourself. (Can't be to careful with you tricky lawyers, even on the faceless internet.)
But even you must admit, and perhaps take perverse pleasure thereby, that the reputation of lawyers cannot be without fact. If you are not getting
your fair share of the loot and perks, then you are in a minority, and perhaps ought see if someone is cheating you of your due. Then again, you may
not yet have passed to being a journeyman in your craft.
And about that last comment on my embracing ignorance, at least I was not lured to such a seedy profession. I am sorry that you are tarred with the
same brush as your fellows, but it was your choice to become a loathsome creature in the eyes of most men with an ounce of morality in their souls.
So, knowing our respective positions on this matter, can we let it rest? Can we return to the constructive give and take of the thread? I for one hope
this is so.