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From: jlh@loral.UUCP (Aiken Drum)
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: long live lawyers -:)
Message-ID: <748@loral.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 14-Jan-85 17:35:38 EST
Article-I.D.: loral.748
Posted: Mon Jan 14 17:35:38 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 17-Jan-85 13:14:43 EST
Distribution: net
Organization: The Many Coloured Cubicle
Lines: 105

(use RAID, kills bugs fast)

Do we really need lawyers?  Following are some examples of where our
legal profession is heading today.  The opinions expressed below may
or may not be my own, I'm making a point about lawyers, not Nuclear
power or the death penalty.

1)  Nuclear power - The legal profession is bringing the nuclear 
power industry to it's knees not by winning legal battles, but by
filing brief after brief, forcing the companies to spend megabucks to
defend themselves.  The courts seem to keep deciding in favor of
nuclear power, but before a plant can start to generate power lawyers
are doing their best to delay it.

2)  Capitol punishment - It's next to impoossible to execute a condemmed
killer in this country.  It makes no difference how many courts and judges
say the execution can take place, all the lawyers need to do is find 1
judge to issue a restraining order.  Is this right?

3)  On 60 minutes last night there was a story about a man whom the IRS
decided was selling illegal tax shelters.  This man had consulted with
a couple of attorneys and they said his shelters were perfectly legal.
The man went to court with something like 24 inditements against him,
in 1/2 day the judge dismissed all but 1 saying he wasn't breaking any
laws.  How much did this man spend defending himself?  3.75 MILLION bucks!!
Note this man was innocent of all he was accused of from day one, but
to prove it cost him his buisness and reputation.  

4)  A couple of weeks ago a major drug company quit making a vaccine for
a disease, I think it was whooping cough, because they were spending 
more money on lawsuits than they were making selling the vaccine.  Note
that something like 25% of children will get whooping cough without
the vaccine, and around 2 or 3 out of 1000 will suffer side effects from
the vaccine.  So what do lawyers do?  They file suit against the company
that made the vaccine on behalf of the 2-3 kids who suffer side effects.
Obviously, if a kid gets whooping cough the lawyer can't sue mother nature,
but if a kid has a bad reacion to the vaccine they can take the company
that made it to the cleaners.  There is now 1 company in the US who
makes the vaccine, and they are thinking of quitting because they have
more money tied up defending themselves against legal suits that they
will GROSS selling vaccine.  I think all kids who get whooping cough
should sue the lawyers who sued the companies that made the vaccine.

5)  Stacy Keach (Mike Hammer to you TV addicts) was busted a few months
ago smuggling cocaine thru London's Heathrow (sp?) airport.  He went
to British court a few weeks ago, was found guilty, and immediatly
went to prison for 9 months.  No appeals, no bail, no plea bargoning,
no nothing.  If he had been busted in this country he would still be
free while his lawyers appealed the conviction, filed breifs, asked
for mistrials, etc.  Over here he probably never would have gone to jail.
In this country, the longer a lawyer can stretch a case out the more
money he makes.  Thats why lawyers files so many breifs, ask for 
extensions, file for mistrials, etc.  If they were paid a set amount
to defend a client, no matter how long the case was, I bet cases
would end a lot sooner.

6)  There was another story in Sunday's paper about a land developer back
east (Maine, I think) who wanted to build a housing development.  The
local citizens didn't like it so they pressured the committe in charge
of approving such things to turn down the developer's permit requests.
Well, they won so what does the developer do?  He filed suit against all
the people who lobbied against him charging them with libel.  It was
calculated that just to go to court and get the suit thrown out on the
first day would cost all the people being sued around $700 each.  Just because
they didn't like the housing development being proposed in their neighborhood
and asked the council not to approve it??  What ever happened to free speach?

7)  Bernie Goetz (you know, the "subway vigilante") said that he was mugged
a few years ago.  The police caught the guilty party and took him to the
station, where he was kept 2-3 hours then released.  Bernie was kept at
the station over 6 hours!!  Is this fair?

8)  Every year in this country more people pass the bar exams to be a lawyer
than there are lawyers in Japan.  Is the reason we are fouled up so much
due to all these lawyers needing somebody to sue so they can get paid?


So there you have it people.  Am I alone in thinking lawyers are fouling
things up more than they are fixing them?  As for what to do with all
those lawyers out there, here is my suggestion.




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