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As number of law school grads rises in Florida, demand drops
Miami Herald ^ | July 27. 2014 | SUSAN TAYLOR MARTIN

Posted on 07/27/2014 4:04:01 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife

Ask Jason Fraser how many jobs he applied for after graduating from a St. Petersburg law school last year and this is what he says:

“Maybe 10 or 20 when it was some place I wanted to work. Maybe 50 when I started getting desperate.’’

After searching as far afield as Ocala and Miami, Fraser finally landed a public defender’s post in Pasco County in June. But his months of job-hunting raises another question, one that nags at many in the legal profession:

Does Florida have too many lawyers?

Since 2000, the number of licensed attorneys has swollen from 60,900 to 96,511. In the same period, five new law schools have opened, cranking out even more lawyers to join those bemoaning the diminished rewards of their chosen career.

“Now it seems you work harder to make half of what you did in 1998,’’ said Angela Wright, a Tampa criminal defense lawyer. “The economy is a reason but also the fact there are a whole lot more attorneys.’’........

(Excerpt) Read more at miamiherald.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: attorneys; lawyers; personalinjury; suethebastards
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1 posted on 07/27/2014 4:04:02 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Too many lawyers. That is why I chose to not go to law school.


2 posted on 07/27/2014 4:06:23 AM PDT by 3Fingas (Sons and Daughters for Freedom and Rededication to the Principles of the U.S. Constitution)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

All you see on daytime TV are ads from lawyers about bankruptcies, SSDI applications, lawsuits on drug or medical device use, accidents with trucks, assaults in apartment complexes, workers compensation claims, auto accident claims - you name it. Filled to the gills with lawyers.


3 posted on 07/27/2014 4:07:58 AM PDT by Gaffer
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Supply & demand works? Who knew?


4 posted on 07/27/2014 4:15:15 AM PDT by Graybeard58 ( A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things. Eccl 10,v 19)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

I’ve seen this first hand with a relative - not in Florida, but in Ohio. She finally got a job with an natural gas energy company where she verifies the ownership of the leased land. It’s contract work, but she makes enough to live and make a dent in the loans. Most importantly, it’s experience that should lead to something more long term.


5 posted on 07/27/2014 4:26:31 AM PDT by randita ("Is a nation without borders a nation?"...Noonan)
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To: Graybeard58
Even orporate customers are not only questioning why 50 associates are on a conference call, when all that is required is one attorney and a paralegal, but demanding that they are only billed for one attorney and the paralegal.

A couple of years ago, I saw a blurb about the UCal system adding yet another law school, when the economics of the legal profession were already consolidating.

The "education" system has its own reality.

6 posted on 07/27/2014 4:27:31 AM PDT by Calvin Locke
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To: Graybeard58

now lets make it happen with doctors


7 posted on 07/27/2014 4:27:35 AM PDT by scottteng (Suntrust Bank is the worlds worst stay away!)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

The big firms outsource the grunt work to India.


8 posted on 07/27/2014 4:32:38 AM PDT by Wolfie
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

“Does Florida have too many lawyers?”

Yes and so does the rest of the country. Like the phone
companies caller ID block, block unblock and block unblock
block. The lawyers in this country are the worlds worst at
creating a demand and filling it. There are no telling how
many laws out there that were passed and put into place just
to employ lawyers. The old saying “a man who represents
himself has a fool for a client” the laws are so ambiguous and
the courts so bureaucratic that an innocent man can
get convicted simply for not having the proper paperwork
to present evidence in his defense.

Also I think that being a lawyer and a politician is a
conflict of interest. What does a lawyer know about energy,
agriculture, education and health when all they are taught
is bureaucratic navigation. Not to mention tort.

There are a lot of problems in this country that are
crated by the saturation of the field. The more lawyers
the more laws. They are going to have to do something
to continue getting those high fees. Maybe they will do
like they did with Obamacare, make it a mandate to
keep a lawyer on retainer.


9 posted on 07/27/2014 4:33:01 AM PDT by Slambat
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To: Graybeard58

“Supply & demand works? Who knew?”

Especially when you get to create the demand and fill it.


10 posted on 07/27/2014 4:34:23 AM PDT by Slambat
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To: Gaffer

Sounds like Obama wants to hire truckloads of immigration lawyers. Just what we need.


11 posted on 07/27/2014 4:40:36 AM PDT by rbg81
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To: rbg81

I hadn’t connected the two, but for him it would be killing two birds with one stone. Hire worthless grads, entrench illegals in our legal system.


12 posted on 07/27/2014 4:42:07 AM PDT by Gaffer
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

According to NCEES, there are only about 22,000 Professional Engineers in Florida, with an additional 15,000 who live out of state. When your lawyers greatly outnumber the engineers, is this a good thing or a bad thing?


13 posted on 07/27/2014 5:00:08 AM PDT by BRK
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Did You Know?

The Current FReepathon Pays For The Current Quarters Expenses?

Now That You Do, Donate And Keep FR Running


14 posted on 07/27/2014 5:00:30 AM PDT by DJ MacWoW (The Fed Gov is not one ring to rule them all)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Comes the dawn of the minimum wage lawyer. Sometimes success does not bring good fortune.


15 posted on 07/27/2014 5:06:09 AM PDT by clearcarbon
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
The last law firm I worked for began downsizing about a year after I retired. Fewer lawyers and with that, smaller support staff. I was a legal secretary for 35 years. Today it would be almost impossible for me to find a job in that field. With the advent of laptops, Ipads and what not, law firms don't need that many secretaries. The lawyers can put together their own documents. There isn't enough work for a gaggle of secretaries.
16 posted on 07/27/2014 5:26:01 AM PDT by fatnotlazy
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Florida has to many blood sucking bottom feeders, they advertise constantly on TV around here wanting to sue anyone for anything. No wonder nobody wants to accept responsibly any more, jump on the free money bandwagon sue someone.


17 posted on 07/27/2014 5:26:05 AM PDT by bikerman (Because of the lack of ammo there will be no warning shots.)
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To: Slambat
Also I think that being a lawyer and a politician is a conflict of interest.

Something I've been saying for years. We are in bad need of loser pays and refunds and penalties for suits that later turn out baseless.

18 posted on 07/27/2014 5:28:10 AM PDT by El Laton Caliente (NRA Life Member & www.Gunsnet.net Moderator)
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To: fatnotlazy

Many secretarial positions were eliminated by word processing programs and such (across the spectrum of industries). My boss has a secretary, and she is always scrambling to find work (doing filing or anything at all) in other departments because the reality is that at best it would be a part-time position. My predecessor had a secretary, and when she left I didn’t replace her - I do it myself.


19 posted on 07/27/2014 5:46:29 AM PDT by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic warfare against white males (and therefore white families).)
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To: randita

It’s a versatile degree nonetheless. She should do well.


20 posted on 07/27/2014 5:55:05 AM PDT by Gene Eric (Don't be a statist!)
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