"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship." -- Alexander Fraser Tyler (later Lord Alexander Fraser Woodhouslee), in "The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic," published 1776.
Mr. Tyler, meet California.
Just reading this gave me goosebumps. Talk about priescent!
The same thing happened with some states with workers comp reform. All the lawyers found/created work in other areas.
Nobody gives up a six digit income without a fight.
Perhaps a few state law schools could be shut down. I read that 1/2 of all practicing lawyers are under 45. It will be interesting to see how the fact that a slight majority of law students are female works into the career mix of future lawyers.
How would the "big picture" be if there were fewer lawyers in the personal injury arena? How would it be if there was an education/training requirement for juries.
(s)Perhaps out of work lawyers could be professional jurrors. You could pay them the same amount of money as judges. (/s)