On April 17, 2002 Columbia Law School released a survey on the public perception of attorneys. It contained the disheartening news for attorneys that two thirds of Americans think that lawyers are overpaid, about half think attorneys do more harm than good, and four in ten think lawyers are dishonest. On the question of honesty only politicians were ranked below lawyers. As to compensation the Columbia Law survey asked: "Given the level of compensation of other professions in society, such as doctors or corporate executives, overall do you believe most lawyers are overpaid, fairly compensated, or underpaid for the work they do?" A full sixty percent of respondents said lawyers are overpaid, compared with a mere two percent who thought lawyers were underpaid. The lawyers are deeply concerned but, their only response is to improve their image. As has been the custom of the legal profession, it is only the public perception that they attempt to change and not their practices. To polish the image of lawyers, Michael Dorf, Vice Dean and a Professor of Law at Columbia University interprets the survey based on his own believes of what the public has in mind are the lawyers who represent large corporations for substantial hourly rates, or the plaintiffs' attorneys who earn enormous contingency fees from judgments against large corporations. Professor Dorf argues that the public does not see the public defenders, legal aid lawyers, or district attorneys who earn annual salaries insufficient to pay off their college and law school loans. Shown on our website under Law is Big Business, is the fact that many of those public defenders, legal aid lawyers and district attorneys are fresh out of law school and many leave those positions as soon as something opens up in the private sector. The truth of the matter is that the law schools are producing more lawyers than what the profession can absorb. But, that does not seem to drive down the fees. Years ago there were no enormous fees for any lawyers. The lawyers’ practice of charging fees based on unbridled "billable hours" is of recent vintage. It is enough to go through a divorce proceeding, which is the fate of about half the marriages, to personally experience the negative aspects of the legal system. Nevertheless, the results of the Columbia Law School Survey are presumed not to reflect negative experiences with attorneys, because it is claimed that fewer than a third of those surveyed reported having used the services of a lawyer within the last year. So it is assumed without any bases in the survey itself, that the results simply reflect deep-seated stereotypes. That this comes from the negative portrayals of lawyers a staple of Western culture going back as far as ancient Athens.. But, Professor Dorf does not fault the negative perception of lawyers to the portrayal of lawyers in the movies and on television. He speculates that the root cause of distrust of lawyers may be a distrust of the law itself. He argues that for the law to work properly it sometimes must impede rather than further justice. He dwells on the exclusionary rule as an example, which he says the public misunderstands as protecting the criminals. Professor Dorf would like to convince the public that it is because lawyers have to operate under unpopular rules and represent unpopular causes that they are perceived by the public as being untruthful. Professor Dorf concludes that if the lawyers are faulted for the flaws in the law itself, then it is hardly surprising that more people thought lawyers dishonest than honest, or that many more people thought them overpaid than fairly compensated. For the full text see: http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dorf/20020417.html Obviously, disregarded is the fact that the major complaint is that the judges and lawyers do not follow the law and constitutional provisions.However according to a recent survey by the New York based Gallup Organization it was found when it asked 1,004 Americans to determine which professionals were the most honest lawyers were still ranked the lowest in the same category with used car salesman. To read the article click here. The Florida Bar Dignity in Law Campaign The tarnished image of lawyers does not sit well with the The Florida Bar as well. What has been declared as the first of its kind in the nation on April 15, 2002 the Bar Board of Governors approved funding to polish the image of attorneys with a so-called "new public education and awareness program" titled "Dignity in Law." The newly elected Bar president Tod Aronovitz announced the campaign as "an unprecedented initiative to counter misperceptions about lawyers and judges that has reached disturbing levels.""Distrust for lawyers and judges has reached such vast proportions that it is turning people away from the legal system, and that is a dangerous trend for all Floridians," declared Aronovitz, of the Miami-based law firm Aronovitz Trial Lawyers. "The Florida Bar's Dignity in Law program is an innovative and honest answer to years of misunderstanding about the important job that lawyers do day in and day out." However, the campaign is just another attempt to change the public perception of lawyers without reforming the practices that the public has been complaining about. In fact a previous ambitious attempt was made by a former Florida Bar president Edith Osmond to improve the image of lawyers apparently with no beneficial results. A concern of the Bar is the finding in a recent study by The American Bar Association that 71 percent of those surveyed said they were involved in matters within the past year that could have involved a lawyer, but less than half (45 percent) actually used one. Obviously the concern is that these persons are representing themselves and are proceeding pro-se, which is considered a loss of business for lawyers. The Florida Bar makes clear that it has no intent to increase the number of complaints it pursues against lawyers. The Florida Bar praises itself that it is the "gold standard" for protecting the public against attorney misconduct. Each year the Bar aggressively pursues disciplinary action against the rare cases of misconduct in the profession. Our statistics show that even with our strong enforcement practices, less than 1% of lawyers in Florida face disciplinary action. Nearly half of the Bar's annual membership fees go to regulation and enforcement efforts." The Florida Bar claims it has 70,790 lawyers as its members. The Florida Bar statistics for the fiscal year of 2001 to 2002 shows that it received 8,691 complaints out of which 414 lawyers were meted out some form of discipline or less than five percent or five out of a hundred complaints. The recent Halt Discipline Report Card released in October 2002 hailed as the first comprehensive evaluation of attorney discipline system in ten years found that the disciplinary system for attorneys in the U.S. was in urgent need of reform. See, www.halt.orgTo counteract the immense public dissatisfaction with the Bar’s disciplinary machinery and with attorneys The Florida Bar has now embarked on a "public education" budgeting $750,000 for that purpose. The RBB Public Relations a Coral Gables-based company specializing in corporate reputation was retained to administer the program.. It was further announced that the Bar will rely on additional financing beyond the Bar's general fund. That a voluntary checkoff will appear on the Bar's annual membership fees form, and contributions will be sought from organizations such as The Fund and the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers. Aronovitz said that every member should contribute to the new initiative, saying, "It is in the best interest of every attorney in Florida to open up the lines of communication with the public, to rebuild our reputation so that it truly reflects our good work, and to combat the incomplete and negative assessments that circulate about the legal system every day." Obviously, this image polishing is not within the disciplinary function of The Florida Bar. It is apparent that if the Bar funds were under legislative appropriation as required under the Florida Constitution and the principles of separation of powers no funds could be raised by the Bar for polishing the image of attorneys. The see the full story of "Dignity in Law" go to www.flabar.org The polishing of the lawyers' image
has now spread to the New York Bar. To read the full story
click here.
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