heirtothewind
VIP Member
Despite ''lawyer jokes'' and despicable advertising reduced to slogans by personal injury attorneys, I still feel that lawyers are the Argus of a free society. I became a lawyer not for some idealistic notion but for the simple practical reason of earning a living. But as a supervisory attorney for a federal agency, I got the impression that standards for becoming a lawyer had fallen since the 1970's. Few, if any, on my staff could do basic legal research or write a concise and coherent memorandum of law or brief. One attorney, of sorts, had no clue as to when the American Civil War was fought. Upon leaving government service, I became a consultant to four law firms handling administrative law and business litigation, and I wondered why I stayed with a government agency with ''attorneys'' who by some miracle managed to get an undergraduate degree and a law degree, and then to pass a bar examination.
The best preparation for law school, in my opinion, is not nonsense like pre-law or political science, but rather English composition and journalism with broad liberal arts electives in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Universities are offering too many absolutely frivolous majors such as gay studies, grape growing, crafts, and puppeteering. It is little wonder that today's college graduates, to a frightening degree, cannot express themselves beyond a 140-character text message or discuss any topic in history or science. And as for law, just learn an advertising slogan [Enough said. Call Ed] [In a wreck. Need a check. One call -- that's all].
Law schools need to be more selective of applicants to ensure the profession does not become a ''default trade'' for those who can do nothing else; and state bar associations need to be more aggressive in disbarring incompetent and unethical lawyers.
Opinions invited.
The best preparation for law school, in my opinion, is not nonsense like pre-law or political science, but rather English composition and journalism with broad liberal arts electives in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Universities are offering too many absolutely frivolous majors such as gay studies, grape growing, crafts, and puppeteering. It is little wonder that today's college graduates, to a frightening degree, cannot express themselves beyond a 140-character text message or discuss any topic in history or science. And as for law, just learn an advertising slogan [Enough said. Call Ed] [In a wreck. Need a check. One call -- that's all].
Law schools need to be more selective of applicants to ensure the profession does not become a ''default trade'' for those who can do nothing else; and state bar associations need to be more aggressive in disbarring incompetent and unethical lawyers.
Opinions invited.