[Insert lawyer joke here]

Ditto: Michael Moore and capitalism.

cassa di noci

Everybody else does, why shouldn't he as well?

Look to the left of you...look to the right of you...one of you...and thank god for that.

He hits the nail on the head - Many other societies survive, and even thrive, with far fewer lawyers per capita than we enjoy. An adversary system that creams off a big part of the intelligent people & then basically cancels them out is wasteful. Some attorneys are certainly necessary, but the deck should be stacked to reward engineers and physicians/surgeons far more highly than most lawyers. And yes, some of my best friends...

the system perpetuates itself...like the IRS, most would benefit if it's scope was greatly reduced...

AndytheLawyer summed Scalia succinctly:

"Posted by AndytheLawyer - 1 day, 10 hours, 46 minutes ago
As usual, Justice Scalia stops short before tripping over his own logic—according to which, he should immediatley resign from the Supreme Court and devote himself to doing something more productive with the rest of his days than aiding and abetting appellate lawyers to obtain justice for their clients."

Probably the only thing Scalia has ever said that I agree with.

Alas, too bad he didn't follow his own advice and invent the combination dishwasher/washing machine.

Wow! So when one of you gets arrested, ripped off or hideously injured I'm sure you're all going to find the attorney with an average IQ to handle your case? The smart thing to do is to do your research in an effort to find the best attorney you can afford. The "system" rewards intelligence because it's a free country, and people can hire whoever they damn well please. Scalia whining about smart lawyers is absurd. It's like spitting into a 30 MPH headwind. This is the land of the free because lawyers keep it that way. Y'all can move to China if you don't like lawyers...they don't like them over there either.

Much truth to what the Justice says.

More here from a liberal non-lawyer businessman:

The fledgling CEO convinced them that "if we don't grow, we probably won't survive." The first major super store in 1980 was a success "almost by 3 o'clock on the day it opened." It's been an upward trajectory of profits and sales ever since.

"Before I started my business, my political philosophy was that business is evil and government is good. I think I just breathed it in with the culture. Businesses, they're selfish because they're trying to make money."

At age 25, John Mackey was mugged by reality. "Once you start meeting a payroll you have a little different attitude about those things." This insight explains why he thinks it's a shame that so few elected officials have ever run a business. "Most are lawyers," he says, which is why Washington treats companies like cash dispensers.

Mr. Mackey's latest crusade involves traveling to college campuses across the country, trying to persuade young people that business, profits and capitalism aren't forces of evil. He calls his concept "conscious capitalism."
----

Maybe more businessmen and women, and less lawyers, is a good thing?

From the WSJ Weekend Interview with John Mackey, with great thoughts on healthcare.

All attorneys in private practice are business people. Lawyers want to get rich like anyone else and they are driven by a motive to make a profit. It's ridiculous to say that the country is going to hell in a hand basket because lawyers don't understand business. Many in the upper echelons of the Fortune 500 executive ranks have law degrees. You can invent the greatest machine on the planet, but you won't make money off of it unless you have a good lawyer to help you file an airtight patent. Smart business people work hand in hand with attorneys, and it's been that way for hundreds of years.

Profits used to be a tool of company health. Now, it's all that matters.

Grow to survive? The only thing I know that fits the description is a cancer, which finally kills it's host. Then dies.

We are the hosts.

I don't remember who it was that said that lawyers are the first line of defense against tyranny. We need lawyers, but when money becomes more important than concepts like justice and the rule of law, there are conversations to be had that shouldn't, in my view, be characterized as contemptuous.

When lawyers and judges can misuse fiduciary responsibilities to steal from people (Oregon is not a stranger to the misuse of conservatorships and trustee duties), the conversations are long overdue.

When power and wealth are misused against you, who ya gonna call? An inventor? Good luck with that. Justice Scalia needs to heed his own advice: Retire and be productive.

Genop,

Scalia, like all judges on the SC, are making a HUGE financial sacrifice by remaining on the bench. Disagree with his decisions, but respect that he remains on the bench because of respect fo the position and a sense of duty to serve our country. Scalia makes in the neighborhood of $200K per year in salary. He would make 20 times that in private practice.

Glad you agree Butch, just another reason to hang up his robe, money. Justice Scalia, (applying the framer's intent-ha,ha) is complicit in bringing this Country to it's knees by handing Bush his first term. Who cares about money when you wield that kind of power?

On this 1st Monday in October, there is no suggestion of what J. Scalia thinks about the defendant's attorney in the matter of requesting a lawyer:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091005/ap_on_go_su_co/us_supreme_court_new_term

Neither is there an indication of whether J. Scalia joined in the laughter allegedly perpetrated by this public defender.

BTW, butch, J. Scalia maintains a busy speech schedule; but I have discovered no list or even estimate of his fees for such appearances, attendance to which is usually rather restricted, especially regarding press coverage.

Scalia's financial disclosure forms for the last 7 years may be found at

http://www.oyez.org/justices/antonin_scalia

In addition to his salary from Uncle Sam, in 2008 Scalia made $22,500 teaching and $98,716 in book royalties/advances; he apparently received only expense reimbursements for his speaking engagements, the majority of which were at bar associations/universities and the Federalist Society.

It looks also like Scalia timed the daylights out of the market. Whatever you may think of Scalia's decisions, you really ought to look up this guy for investment advice and then have Jack help you work out the tax consequences.