Why do conservatives hate lawyers?

[_Jumper_]

Lawyers are well-educated, successful, intelligent, and usually relatively wealthy. These are the kinds of people that the Right usually lionizes. Moreover, the most unpopular lawyers are the ones that behave in a questionable manner. Wouldn't they be considered heroes to the right for doing whatever they needed to do to enhance their self-interest?

[La_Serpiente]

1. Because conservatives

defend big corporations and they don't like lawsuits.

[_Jumper_]

6. What about "Middle American" conservatives?

Are they so brainwashed by the propaganda that they believe their interests are represented by corporations, not lawyers?

[Guaranteed]

26. Lawyers are just another scapegoat for the right wing.

Like the Jews or blacks. All our problems are THEIR <pointing> fault. One of the right-wing's main political tactics is to demonize people to take the heat off of themselves.

[ProudGerman]

2. They hate trial lawyers

They love the lawyers they have on retainer. They don't like the ones who sue corporations, or defend peoples civil rights (usually against a corporation)

[Demobrat]

3. Not when they sue corporations

on behalf of peons, which includes everybody.

[theorist]

4. Nader's _Power_Lawyers_ details the answer to your question.

n/t

[Sparky McGruff]

5. Wrong about the educated part

Bush-style conservatives seem to hate well-educated people. Well educated people have confusing ideas that are often shades of grey. They think too much. Education should be a product -- a means to making more $$.

But, then again, I'm over-educated.

[_Jumper_]

8. They have mixed feelings on education

They usually lionize educated people because they "worked hard to succeed in America." They hate well-educated people whose education is in the liberal arts.

[kayleybeth]

7. I don't know

I think it's because Trial Lawyers are typically big money donors to Democrats.

As much as conservatives claim to hate lawyers though, they don't seem squeamish about hiring them when they want to bring a nuisance lawsuit against someone.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

9. EVERYBODY hates lawyers...

Have you had to pay one of those *&%$@* ((*&^@$#^ ?

I think I just bought one a Learjet.

[Zuni]

10. Rush Limbaugh will learn to love his

when he is arraigned for drug possesion, medical fraud etc.

In the future, you will hear less and less about laywers and drugs come from his fat mouth. Even he will not pursue those lines anymore.

[ClintonTyree]

11. Awww come on.......

you know that Rush's hypocrisy has no bounds. He'll trash lawyers just as much as before, perhaps more because he'll be paying a shitload of them a ton of money to keep his fat ass out of jail. There hasn't been any contrition on his part about his drug use, it's not HIS fault you know.
I just love these "personal responsibility" Republicans.

[Zuni]

16. Bill Clinton made him do it

and you know that Bill Clinton is responsible for his high legal bills. Of course, rush would never admit the 'Free Market' has let legal fees skyrocket...

[Catshrink]

29. Oh come on, Zuni

you know it wasn't Clinton's fault -- it was Clinton's penis.

edited for grammar.

[JackSwift]

12. Conservatives love their own lawyers

they just hate the lawyers that average folks hire, because lawyers are trained advocates for the people that hire them, and conservatives hate average folks.

[bookman]

13. Easy...

...lawyers initiate law suits, and law suits initiate..

Discovery.

[AlFrankenFan]

14. They hate sucessful lawyers...

...cause my father, step-mother, step-grandfather, and three of my step-uncles are extreme right-wingers and lawyers....ambulance chasers and copyright lawyers.

[maggrwaggr]

15. I thought everybody hated lawyers.

And if they don't, they should.

[dfong63]

19. try calling a plumber next time you're on trial

some lawyers serve a valuable purpose. any intelligent person should be able to see that. lawyers are the little guy's only hope of getting justice. if you hate lawyers so much - who are you gonna call when YOU'RE on trial - when YOU get sued - when some mega-corporation screws YOU?

[Myra]

22. Yes! Thanks dfong63. That's exactly why the RW hates them.

They're a threat to their bottom line, huge corporate profits.

Look at what happened to Halliburton when Cheney was the "brains."
They acquired a company that had huge liability issues with
asbestos, and it was disastrous for them. It took the Iraq
invasion to make Halliburton truly profitable again.

[incontrovertible]

17. not a conservative, but I hate lawyers...

...who exist solely from leeching off of actual accomplishment. Google for "SCO Linux" if you'd like an example.

[sujan]

27. isn't that SCO's fault?

[incontrovertible]

28. SCO

is nothing BUT lawyers now. They haven't produced a worthwhile line of code in years. The entire business model is now "become such a damn nuisance and resource drain on the Linux industry that IBM finally just buys us out." They're in the lawsuit business, not the Unix business.

[sujan]

38. ....

[IndianaGreen]

18. Republicans don't hate corporate lawyers

They only hate lawyers representing plaintiffs against corporate America (tort reform is intended to protect insurance companies, not the patients).

[Myra]

23. "Republicans don't hate corporate lawyers"

Good point.
And they didn't hate lawyers during the Florida recount.
They loved them some Olson.

:loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya: :loveya:

[Myra]

20. I think it's 'cause laywers can get justice, and $, for ordinary folk.

The courts are about the only recourse left when the right wing
has the white house, congress, media, the works. So if someone
is, as a random example, fired from WalMart because they were
trying to organize a union, a lawyer is about the only person
they might conceivably turn to for a remedy.

So, in other words, lawyers are about the only people that
can smack down a big company (e.g., Erin Brockovich).

It's why the right wing is so eager for tort reform, to
limit the liability of companies, including negligent and
abusive companies.

Obviously there are terrible lawyers and ambulance chasers
and such. Just like there are terrible unions, but unions
are largely necessary - and almost extinct in the US.

But I really think the concerted campaign against
lawyers, including many lawyer jokes (two sharks walked into a
bar...nyuk nyuk), is part of an orchestrated attack on
attorneys, much as the smears on the French were orchestrated
because they won't help us steal oil from Iraq.

Oh, and of course the right wing pretty much owns the courts
now too, certainly the Supreme Court.

[Booberdawg]

21. Oh, but they are weasels!

Geeze! Just look at the ones you see on the talk shows! Defense lawyers are allowed to LIE!

Lawyers make their living at manipulating and weasel wording and dramatizing the facts. It's what they do; it's what they are.

I've been on the winning end of a wrongful death trial that involved my son. The defense was fucking evil. Lie, cheat, steal, withhold evidence, intimidate witnesses, pay experts to lie at trial (who got caught and creamed at trial), lie to reporters and public at large, commit perjury, encourage clients to commit perjury, and on, and on, and on.

Even though they knew there were those that would not go along with it that would testify against them. :wtf:

Oh, I could go on, and on, and on, ... think drama queen.... because that's what being a defense lawyer is

[cjm2222]

24. Some lawyers are great

I worked in a law firm for three years. Some of the attorneys I met were the biggest sleazes who would sue anyone if they thought they could get money. However, the department I worked in dealt with asbestos exposure, so that was good and I didn't feel like we were ripping off innocent people.

[The Backlash Cometh]

25. Er...Jim Baker is a lawyer.

It's a misnomer that conservatives hate lawyers. Think of the Federalist Society. They just hate lawyers who oppose them.

[Bertha Venation]

30. Republicans ARE lawyers.

How do you suppose * got into the White House? I work for one of the Republican lawyers who helped! AAAAAUUUUGGGGHHHHHH!

[Kamika]

31. same reasons liberals do :)

when they get ppl off the hook for murder when it's obvious their client is guilty it pisses ppl off

[YellowRubberDuckie]

32. You know that they'd love it if legal reps weren't guarenteed...

...under the law. That would mean they could put more people behind bars, truly guilty or not. The poor doesn't belong out on the streets, poluting it with their non designer clothing and ugly cheap compact cars!! If the poor and middle class are having their rights protected, they can't get more than they deserve!
Duckie

[SoCalDem]

33. Lawyers represent people who have the audacity

to challenge the corporate masters.. Some people still feel that when a company makes a product and receives massive amounts of money from it, there should actually be some assurance that it is safe.. When the product injures an innocent consumer, they sometimes feel like THEY should be compensated, especially when lawyers find out that the company actually KNEW their product might injure people, and then hid that knowledge and continued to market it..

Lawyers can get access to information that common people cannot.. Even if they COULD, they might not understand what those memos and reports really say..

Republicans have NO problem with lawyers when THEY need them, they just do not think that the "common folks" should have access..

Also, since "common folk" usually does not have deep pockets, they often have to band together in class action suits.. These usually result in massive judgements that hurt the companies with the big bucks.. The sad thing is that the lawyers do very well in class actions that are won, and the consumers end up with little.. The only positive result is that the company is punished for wrongdoing..

The pundits are very good about over-reporting these cases and also about the large malpractice awards.. What they fail to say is that after the headline grabbing 50Million "award" news, there is usually a quiet settlement for far less.. People remember the headline and are never told that the case was settled months later for a far lesser amount..

Lawyers are portrayed as greedy.. No doubt, some are, but most are just doing their job.. They are paid advocates..no more , no less.

[Booberdawg]

34. I guess it all depends on whose side the fucker is on

They are sleazeballs by nature though. They have to be to manipulate and lie for a living.

[_Jumper_]

35. Thanks for the responses

They have been very interesting thus far.:)

[populistmom]

36. Because they hold corporate and government scumballs accountable

Some lawyers are sleazeballs, but not all. My dad is one and he is not only a liberal and progressive, but an ethical lawyer. The only downside to that is that he's not a rich one. He's been fired numerous times because he uncovered corruption, the last time involving a project he was working on and some higher up in state government (Repug governor). He was the sacrificial lamb because he didn't play the game.

[no_hypocrisy]

37. Because defense lawyers advocate for those who seek justice from

corporations that damage the environment (water, air, forrests, natural reserves), corporations that manufacture defective products that injure (or worse) consumers, employers who exploit their employees (if not unjustly sack them from their positions), doctors who make mistakes and permanently injure (or worse) their patients, drivers who operate their vehicles recklessly or carelessly and injure (or worse) other drivers and/or pedestrians, students who are subjected to religious indoctrination in their public schools where they are compelled to listen, etc.

Without lawyers to speak for the individuals who merely want to assert the rights granted to them by legislation and/or prior court cases, this country would be a dictatorship, oligarchy, or a combination of both.