There are plenty of jokes about lawyers.\u00a0 Entire websites are devoted to lampooning one of the most hated professions in America.\u00a0 For example, when lawyers die, why don\u2019t vultures eat them?\u00a0 Even a vulture has taste. Ha!<\/p>\n
Well, according to one lawyer who resides in the nation\u2019s capital, the legal profession is dying.\u00a0 Writing in the Los Angeles Times<\/em><\/span><\/a>, Mark Greenbaum argues that the current legal environment is over-saturated with new attorneys, leading to the high unemployment rate for incoming Greenbaum\u2019s solution is to turn an already regulated market over to the federal government to limit the supply of lawyers entering the field.\u00a0 For Greenbaum, only politicians can stop the bleeding for those poor souls.<\/p>\n Mr. Greenbaum\u2019s treatise on nationalizing the supply of labor is yet another reason why lawyers shouldn\u2019t run the show in Washington, D.C.\u00a0 If economics teaches anything, it\u2019s that the market determines supply and demand.\u00a0 Granted, the legal industry is already highly regulated and massive federal subsidies allow for affordable interest free loans.\u00a0 But, these distortions only enhance the desire for some students to be the next Perry Mason<\/span><\/a>, or the next Jack Abramoff<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n Unlike journalists, chefs, florists or most other professions one can imagine, the only barrier to success is the ability to generate capital, usually through the sale of goods or services.\u00a0 In the U.S., everyone virtually has a constitutional right (though not explicitly) to practice any vocation.\u00a0 The legal and medical worlds throw in a few hurdles like extra schooling, dues and passing state-approved exams.<\/p>\n If Mr. Greenbaum really wanted to control the supply of lawyers to ensure that unemployment remains low and wages continue to rise, he would advocate for less government involvement.\u00a0 Let students pay what law school actually costs without massive subsidies from the federal government.\u00a0 Let markets determine \u201cacceptable\u201d supplies of labor.\u00a0 Once students realize that a law degree is no longer an easy path to millions, they\u2019ll stop forking over $100,000 for three years of misery inside a law school classroom.\u00a0 Trust me.<\/p>\n The markets are doing a fine job of determining my access to food, clothing, computers and fantasy baseball. \u00a0 I wonder if Mr. Greenbaum, an attorney, would approve of state regulation of leather shoes, European cars or arrogance.<\/p>\nbloodsuckers<\/del> lawyers.<\/p>\n