Legal Ethics and Reform
Famous Quotes & Interesting Statistics About
Lawyers, Judges, etc.
Note: A new item is added to this list every week. Check back to
have your preconceptions about our legal system challenged. After
finishing this page, your are invited to visit An Earlier Famous
Quotes and Interesting Statistics Page.
"Legal ethics is a misnomer ... lawyers conducting themselves legally are not necessarily conducting themselves morally ."...and ..."The zero sum nature of the legal system, combined with the universal adoption of zealotry as the marching orders of practioners and prosecutors, transforms the moral mission of the legal system from one of truth-seeking, storytelling, and justice, to one of fabrication, distortion, and manipulation in pursuit of victory. These victories, however, make us all losers."
. Thane Rosenbaum
"I believe that the finest qualities of man can flourish only in free air - that
progress made under the shadow of the policeman's club is false progress, and of
no permanent value. In any dispute between a citizen and the government, it is my
instinct to side with the citizen ... I am against all efforts to make men virtuous by
law."...
. H. L. Mencken
"...half the cases filed in Colorado involve family matters - divorce, child custody,
abuse, etc. ...... there is one case filed annually for every seven people in the state
..... there are enough trial court judges in Colorado to give each case that is filed
about 42 minutes of judicial attention..."
. Mary Mullarkey, Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court
"They don't produce anything. All they
do is guide you through the labyrinth of the legal system that
they created -- and they keep changing it just in case you start
to catch on."
. Merle Kessler
"Anything which causes trouble has special merit in their eyes."
. Desiderius Erasmus
"I would be loath to
speak ill of any person who I do not know deserves it, but I am
afraid he is an attorney."
. Samuel Johnson
"Whenever you wish to do anything
against the law, Cicely, always consult a good solicitor first."
. George Bernard
"Lawyers, before any other group, must continue to point out how the system is
really working--how it actually affects real people. They must constantly
demonstrate to courts and legislatures alike the tragic results of legal
nonintervention. They must highlight how legal doctrines no longer bear any
relation to reality, whether in landlord and tenant law, holder in due course law, or
any other law. In sum, lawyers must bring real morality into the legal
consciousness"
. Justice Wm. Brennan
"America with 4% of the world's population has 50% of the worlds
lawyers .... tort lawyers love to point out that 1% of America's health
care cost is used to pay malpractice insurance ... but most doctors
practice defensive medicine to avoid malpractice litigation ... these
costs are not included in the 1% number above."
. Richard Lamm
"In America, 50% of the money paid by plaintiffs and defendants in civil cases goes to injured parties and 50% goes to lawyers and for court costs."
. Jim Copeland of the Manhattan Institute
"Today, in 2004, there are 69 lawyers in the U.S. Senate"
. Walter Olson
"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.". Tacitus
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