Jessica asked:

Why does everyone hate lawyers?

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Not everyone hates lawyers, although it is true that many do. This is partly due to the fact that they
are thought to charge large fees for doing very little, although most people don't actually know how
much or how little the lawyer is actually doing. Another reason is that they are perceived as taking
longer than necessary in dealing with cases, causing frustration to clients — and building up even
greater fees. The length of time spent on a case doesn't actually increase charges, because charges
will only be made for time actually spent. If a case is frustrating because of time taken this is not
necessarily the fault of the lawyer since other people (e.g., banks) will be involved in the case. So it
isn't rational to hate lawyers for these reasons.

Litigation lawyers are often thought to be immoral. For example, a lawyer who goes to court to
repossess a house on a behalf of a building society, thereby making someone homeless, is doing
something it is difficult to approve of. However, this only happens if the defendant owes a lot of
money and a justification for the lawyer is that if he doesn't do it someone else will. The legal process
goes on regardless of which particular persons are involved.

Criminal lawyers are also thought to be immoral because they are trying to stop people who have
done wrong from being punished. The same justification applies. Also, the defence lawyer must
believe in the innocence of the accused because if there are reasons to suppose the accused is guilty
it would be to withhold evidence if he doesn't make this known.

Rachel Browne

Not everybody hates lawyers (people who avoid going to jail through good legal defence for
example). The notion that all good lawyers are dead lawyers probably stems from the fact that they
are often able to make a great deal of money while sometimes we feel that their ethics are dubious. A
lawyer may make a great deal of money from successfully defending a well known celebrity accused
of murder, but the celebrity may well have been obviously guilty for example. How could a lawyer
justify this?

Everybody deserves a fair trial in the eyes of the law; this is how a lawyer justifies defending
somebody whom we all think is clearly guilty. Is this a grey area of morality? The law sanctions the
guilty man's exoneration if he cannot be proven guilty in the eyes of the law. Things approved of by
the law are not always ethically approved by us.

Adam Gatward

My guess is that you are a law student, am I right? You love what you do, but you are put off by the
fact that as a lawyer you will do things that people will hate you for. Accept that you can't be loved by
everybody, and strive to be the best lawyer that you possibly can be.

Geoffrey Klempner