After reading af240's blog about shitty lawyers, I just wanted to ad this.  I hate ambulance chasing injury lawyers.  They are the slime that gives good lawyers a bad name.  And yes, there are good lawyers.  A lot of people think that all Lawyers are bad people, which is not true.  There are many lawyers who work hard for the communities in which they live.  I almost became a lawyer, and I actually got into law school, but decided not to go at the last minute.  I decided not to go because there are really just too many lawyers these days, and everyone wants to be one for the wrong reasons.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcL0I2nSFIk  If I had been a lawyer, I would have been a 4th generation one in my family.  My father is a lawyer, my 80 something year old Grandfather was a lawyer, and my Great-Grandfather was as well.  I also have two uncles and an aunt that are lawyers.  My Grandfather was a public defender for 20 years, and stood up for the poor who couldn't afford to hire an attorney, and provided their right to due process.  My father is the District Attorney in my little hometown in the back woods of Kentucky.  My father's responsibilities include putting dead-beat Dad's in jail who refuse to pay child support, dealing with drunks who get DUI's and all legal matters regarding schools, hospitals, and other instiutions in the community.  In addidtion to all his responsibilites regarding the D.A. position, he also made time for private practice when people in the community needed his help.  The following story, is something I witnessed in a courtroom one day when I was in high school several years ago....

This trial had been going on for a couple of weeks, and I was there one afternoon to see my pop in action.  My father was defending a poor farmer from the sticks, in a po' dunk courthouse.  He was defending the farmer, because some jackass had called the Becker law firm.  http://www.beckerlaw.com/  The Becker law firm used to play commercials all the time in KY, and it would piss everyone off.   99% of the time, when people called in they wouldn't actually go to trial, because their cases are total bullshit and wouldn't stand a chance of ever winning.  Typically they just seek a settlement to weasel money out of people.  Occaisionally, their cases actually go to trial.  Here's what happened:  The guy prosecuting tresspassed onto the farmer's land in the middle of the night with the intention of stealing some of the guy's farming equpiment.  Once in the barn, the man does not know how to operate the machine and tears the fuck out of his arm, mutilating it.  The farmer, hearing screams of agony from the barn, calls 911.  An ambulance is dispatched and the would be treaspassing theif is taken to the hospital.  The injured theif calls the Becker law office, and wants to sue the farmer, because he claims the machinery did not have enough warning labels to prevent him from fucking up his arm.  The prosecution (Becker Law) has the farmer (my Dad's client) on the stand.  Oh, and by the way, Becker Law Office paid someone to tresspass on the guys property again, and take pictures of the machine that fucked up the guy's arm to use in court.  Now there's a giant blown up picture of a tractor next to the witness stand for everyone to see.

Becker:  "Sir, please state your occupation."

Farmer:  "I'm a farmer."

Becker:  "Sir, could you please tell me what this is a picture of?"

Farmer:  "That's my tractor."

Becker:  "Wouldn't you say this is a potentially dangerous machine, especially if someone trid to operate it that didn't know how?"

Farmer:  "Yessir, I reckon so."

Becker:  "Do you see any signs on this machine, indicating it's danger?"

Farmer:  "No sir, I do not."

Becker:  "So, could one conclude that the lack of warnings on this machine could contribute to an accidential injury of an unsuspecting person, due to negligence on the part of the owner of said equipment to adequately sign the equipment in question? "

Farmer:  "Uh.... Yessir, I reckon so."

Becker:  "No further questions."

(Then it's my Dad's turn.)

My Dad:  "Could you please give the specific name of the machine that injured the prosecution's client."

Farmer:  "It was a back-hoe, sir"

My Dad:  "Is this a picture of a back-hoe?"

Farmer:  "No sir, that's a tractor."

My Dad:  "No further questions."

The Becker Law Office took a picture of the wrong machine.  The came to my little po' dunk town from the "big city" of Louisville trying to act like big shit, and just ended up looking like total idiots.  Needless to say, my Dad won the case and the farmer got to keep his money.  My point is, some Lawyers actually help the little guy out when it's rightly so, and not all lawyers are out to fuck people over.  I didn't have time to spell check, so sorry.