1.17.2009

What do you think of lawyers?

Today in class, the teacher somewhat discussed how lawyers are in general and how they are portrayed in the society. What I found interesting about lawyers was the whole “campaign, re-election” deals that they make with judges. What happens is lawyers will re-elect the judge and give them large amounts of money for the judge’s elections for the trade of favors. An interesting joke that is posted on myeclassonline.com that I found to be interesting about lawyers is, “What's the difference between a good lawyer and a great lawyer? -- A good lawyer knows the law. A great lawyer knows the judge”. Lawyers are portrayed as sneaks, cheats, and liars when it comes to the law. In my opinion, those favors that they receive from judges can be good. For example, one day you’re driving on the freeway and all of the sudden a cop clocks you going 80mph. The speed limit is 65. The cop then writes you a ticket and that’s something you really don’t want on you record. You drive home one day pissed off about that ticket and you see a little piece of heaven, a billboard that says, “Got a ticket? Call us to get rid of it!”. You then call the number and for a little price, you’re ticket will be taken care of and it is then reduced to a parking citation. The teacher discussed that this is a favor owed by the judge to the “excellent lawyer” that reduced your speeding ticket.

One movie that came to mind about lawyers is Liar, Liar with Jim Carrey. I’m sure we all know the story, and if you don’t, I encourage you to watch it because it is a great movie. As a lawyer, he constantly lies and cheats to win cases and money until one day, his son decides to make a birthday wish for his father not to lie. He then goes through life without the ability to tell a lie causing him to lose cases and causes him to lose credibility in his firm. So it’s kind of ironic actually, lawyers are supposed to help us with the law, but then they have their own ways to twist and turn facts in order to win a case. As I’ve seen so far in media, yes lawyers are sneaks, but I’m sure there are good, loyal lawyers out there. Good luck finding them.

2 comments:

  1. After reading your post, I would have to agree. I have never gotten into any trouble with the law, but if I had, I would really want the help of a lawyer who was able to grant me a citiation from a speeding ticket. I have a better view on things now by reading this.

    And yes, I remember that movie, and it was a long time ago when I saw it. Though ironic, that movie did show what it was like to be a lawyer, and what they do in their line of work, and what it would be like if they could not lie.

    So as much as I feel its cheatful, or wrong, I guess that its essential.

    thank you. =)

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  2. I also think that sometimes lawyers getting favors from the judge is something that can help us but it could also go against us. It is sometimes helpful but it could also hurt us. Let’s say someone is in jail for something they were falsely accused of. They get a good lawyer to get them out of jail but the plaintiff gets one of those “great lawyers”, the defendant would be sentenced unfairly. Their life could be ruined because our law system was not fair. You can see the “fairness of our law system in the movie Justice For All.

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