Posted on 01/12/2005 7:53:34 AM PST by hdrabon
Why do we not use the term, Legal Industry? Instead, we euphemistically use the term, legal community, as if the members of the legal industry are in actuality a class that is separate from the rest of society.
Have many of us considered how the legal industry OWNS the legislative AND judicial branches of government? Think about it -- America has one single INDUSTRY with the power to legislate, adjudicate, interpret, and execute our nation's laws. The legal industry is a special interest that is built-into Congress and the State Legislatures and comprises the largest "professional" membership of those bodies. No other industry has such influence over these "separated power" bodies, and no other industry has the capacity to financially benefit from such a monopolistic corporate involvement.
Citizens must wake-up and call for reform of the legal industry's judicial and legislative involvements. The legal industry's cash cows, especially those financed by tax dollars, must be eliminated. If proper research could be done, we would likely find that an abundantly disproportionate amount of American tax dollars directly benefit the legal industry. Regardless, and regardless of the additional funds the legal industry takes in from "helping" private citizens and corporations, the legal industry has easy access to massive corporate income, with disproportionately minor corporate risk.
A simple example of government funding of the legal industry is with the current Anti Citizen Lawsuit Union (ACLU) Inauguartion effort is being financed by tax dollars, by prior order of Congress, as are all their "civil liberty" activities. (Ask your senator or congressperson about this.) As common -- In every community and with the help of community government financed and retained "attorneys," it is the legal industry that is in bed with developers, ecologists, or whichever group that can facilitate the local legal industry's money making processes, regardless of the harm done to property rights, etc.
Americans must demand PUBLIC investigations into the industry's stockholders and officers, as it "naturally" expects with any other industry. If dentists, doctors, corporate leaders, accountants, or any other American businessperson (and the rest of us, for that matter) can have their POTENTIAL misdoings followed and reported by the media at every possible point, then why cannot the same be true for members of the legal industry? Answer -- Because we have allowed the legal industry to dupe us into giving it an almost imperial status! We have been duped into accepting the incessant whining and arrogance from the legal industry, while all the while it holds all the cards!
What a world it would be if the legal industry could not financially benefit from exacerbating our political, racial, philosophical, etc., differences! The current reality is that the labels Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative, or similar terms TRULY only have relevence to how useful they are to additional legal industry lucre. It is only the legal industry that stands to benefit from the multitudinous and continuing issues arising from the War on Terror.
How can we be done with the inherent conflict-of-interests the legal industry has with the American public? Whatever is possible, and whatever sacrifices must be made (like out-of-the box efforts such as putting a judge up for sale on EBay) it is time to put an end to black-collar crime once and for all, and regain a genuine, democratic way-of-life. . . . It is time for Americans to begin placing the blame on the REAL culprit behind our inability to make durable, and measurable, social gains for ALL Americans.
We must find ways to revolt against the abuses of our revolting legal industry.
It is time to call the legal industry to account for how it has abused its singularly special responsibilities.
Your last line is very interesting. . . . Does my right coincide with a local legal industry's interests anywhere except on paper?
They coined Big Tobacco so I prefer to call them Big Law.
It IS an industry, just like the healthcare industry, or the computer industry, etc., etc.
It may be BIG LAW, but BIG LAW is an industry. . . .
Thank you for lookin' in!
If you are going to post a vanity - please put vanity in the title, so I can ingnore it.
Just look at the volumes of laws they created and passed throught the legislatures - and does anyone say thanks?
Lawyers are the commissars of American-style socialism - hard-working foot-soldiers of a new and better world!
Keep your nose clean and you'll be fine.
Everyone on the right recognizes the danger of the government directly holding a monopoly, or even granting an unregulated monopoly to a corporation. Everyone on the left recognizes the danger of a corporation acquiring a monopoly. But no one want to talk about the host of monopolies (sometime regulated with regard to quality, sometimes self-regulated, but all unregulated as regards prices for services) granted to professional societies. Lawyers, physicians, psychologists, actuaries, school teachers, are all organized into professional societies or unions which are granted effective monopolies by state regulations, and in all cases command monopolists prices for their services (except the school teachers who prefer to offer the monopolists' shoddy quality at low prices (i.e. wages)).
If the state grants a monopoly, which it does in all these cases by licensing or certification requirements drafted at the behest of the professional society or union, the state should regulate both quality and price. Otherwise the market should work.
Certainly the lawyers are the most pernicious, since they have granted themselves a monopoly not just on their services, but on filling judgeships, but most of the problems with the American health care system have to do with the fact we pretend it's free market when in fact it is controlled by the state-granted physicians monopoly guild, and to a lesser extent by monopolies granted to pharmasutical companies under intellectual property laws, without any regulation on the fees charged. (When we have or had state granted monopoly utilities, the fees charged were regulated. The same should apply when other monopolies are granted to corporations or professional societies.)
Thank you for straightening out my intentions, and for helping me correct my strategy.
Not only are they the most pernicious, they are the only industry granted responsibility for and unbridled access to at least ONE of our branches of government.
Big Law is a term that lawyers use to refer to large law firms. Most lawyers do not work for such law firms.
Can someone please give me a working definition of "vanity" as it applies to Freep.
Thanks in advance.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.