Perhaps it is because lawyers are, by definition, the experts at defending dubious practices.
Why Are Lawyers So Expensive Even With The Excess Supply Of Lawyers?
21–30 of 217 posts
Re: Why Are Lawyers So Expensive Even With The Excess Supply Of Lawyers?
#22So, Forbes is republishing Quora answers now? This must be part of that new strategy where they try to gain more traffic (http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-targe...) with other people's content (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.h...).
Re: Why Are Lawyers So Expensive Even With The Excess Supply Of Lawyers?
#23Because there are no H-1B lawyers.
Do you think lawyers from other countries know US law? I don't think so. You will pretty much have to start over in US.
Do accountants in other countries know US tax law? According to this source [0] at least some do. I don't see how general law would be much different.
[0] http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2005/605/essentials/p54.ht...
Re: Why Are Lawyers So Expensive Even With The Excess Supply Of Lawyers?
#24Having worked some recently with lawyers, their chief value is similar to that of the historical value of having assassins on the king's payroll. The power is not in using the assassins, which is expensive and dangerous, but in that people are more scared to provoke and escalate with someone known to employ assassins.
Re: Why Are Lawyers So Expensive Even With The Excess Supply Of Lawyers?
#25Any way this market can be disrupted? Maybe through some more efficient/decentralized/AI-based services that would do much of the lawyer's jobs, forcing them to reduce their billing rates?
The author is doing just that. He talks about it at the end.
Re: Why Are Lawyers So Expensive Even With The Excess Supply Of Lawyers?
#26Surely that's an opportunity for a new firm? The demand is obviously there (plenty of people don't see a lawyer for financial reasons), as is the supply (apparently).
There's a service that used to be called "Prepaid legal" with essentially a small retainer, and a minimum guarantee of services, with favorable rates when the service was used beyond that. It operated basically as a kind of legal insurance. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LegalShield
Yes, some company offer that. Cheap, but you lose the case with cheap lawyers. Penny wise, pound foolish.
Re: Why Are Lawyers So Expensive Even With The Excess Supply Of Lawyers?
#27This may not apply to the world of corporate lawyers the answer seems to be about, but at a smaller level, there are enormous switching costs involved in moving away from, and training a new lawyer. And it's not a free market. In a free market, the consumer can walk away from a purchase. Most times individuals or small businesses need a lawyer, they are in no position from walking away. They need a lawyer. And they n…
I don't think that becoming dependent on a particular product, service, or supplier makes it "not a free market."
Re: Why Are Lawyers So Expensive Even With The Excess Supply Of Lawyers?
#28Any way this market can be disrupted? Maybe through some more efficient/decentralized/AI-based services that would do much of the lawyer's jobs, forcing them to reduce their billing rates?
Lots of people are trying (including me) in many different ways. No doubt technology can help in various ways, but I think the single most promising change is top-notch lawyers breaking away from megafirms to start their own smaller shops with a much leaner cost structure. That's what I did, but I didn't want to make the article all about tooting my own horn.
Re: Why Are Lawyers So Expensive Even With The Excess Supply Of Lawyers?
#29The supply of lawyers is high, but the supply of good, experienced lawyers with good reputations is lower.
Re: Why Are Lawyers So Expensive Even With The Excess Supply Of Lawyers?
#30To some extent, lawyers (or, more accurately, law firms) are Veblen goods -- meaning that their services are perceived as being better if they're more highly priced and exclusive. There's a general perception that a high-priced lawyer is a top-notch lawyer, and that skimping on such lawyers carries a huge deal of legal risk.
This dynamic plays out particularly in the BigCorp world, and especially if there's ever a perceived threat of litigation. (The idea that a competitor would hire "the best of the best," or "an army of lawyers," or "top guns," drives your own desire to pay for same).