Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Not dead yet

The French lawyer is only a learned man; but the English or American man of law resembles in a way the priests of Egypt; like them, he is the lone interpreter of an occult science.

~Alexis De Tocqueville, Democracy in America

As a law student, I cannot let Jeremiah bash lawyers without responding in some way.

Attending law school has more than once reminded me of the above Alexis De Tocqueville quote. While the household priest is no more, and the household doctor is not far behind, the household lawyer is (or appears to be) more important than ever. And like the priests of old, who opened up sacrificial animals and examined their entrails to determine if the omens were favorable, lawyers today must cut up and examine each part of life and either give or withhold their blessing.

So yes, there really isn't much difference between "Our lawyers made us do it" and "God told me to."

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