Lawyers bear brunt of ire in US election fiasco

The big story of the week was, of course, the shambles surrounding the US elections, and - when it emerged that the outcome could be decided in the courtroom rather than the polling booth - many papers gleefully took the opportunity to indulge in some tried and tested lawyer bashing.

The Independent (13 November) described 'Gucci Gulch' - the main street in Washington DC, so called because of the high proportion of Gucci-wearin', $475 an hour chargin', 'legal gunslingers' residing there - as an example of how 'the Rule of Law has degenerated into the Rule of Lawyers'.

Washington's 'over-lawyered society' - apparently 10% of the population is legally qualified - has led to a victim-led society, blasted the paper, where 'nobody takes responsibility for their mistakes, because it is more profitable to claim victimhood and reach for a lawyer'.

The author's creative juices were flowing freely, as the lawyers were described variously as 'a herd of asses', 'two-headed monsters of comedy' and, perhaps most impressively, as having the 'goggle-eyed enthusiasm of Iranian mullahs reading from the Koran to justify a fatwa against the other side'.

However, despite this rhetoric, The Independent did not seem completely sure of its own mind.

One page earlier, an editorial supported the 'excitement' of the possible electoral litigation, as an example of 'democracy in the raw'.

It added that 'the idea that it is somehow improper to consult a lawyer or consider legal action over a democratic election is taking anti-lawyer prejudice too far'.

The Guardian found another easy target, as it reported (8 November) on the 'funny money' being offered to newly qualified solicitors.

Starting salaries, it said, were often 50,000 or 60,000 a year - 'enough to make many feel decidedly nauseous'.

However, these 'absurdly glittering' prizes do come with the downside of long hours and 'drudge work' - many young lawyers feel such pressure, The Guardian revealed, that they often 'go and get completely trashed after work'.

In terms of PR, the profession has had better weeks.

The Independent on Sunday (12 November) reported how City giant Clifford Chance - 'where senior partners can earn 700,000 a year' - had got rid of its pro bono officer, prompting fears that it would cut back on its work in the field.

Seemingly eager to portray City lawyers as a cross between the Grinch and Ebenezer Scrooge, the Independent quoted a 'senior lawyer at a rival firm' bemoaning the 'lack of support from leading lawyers' for pro bono work.

Someone who should consider a well-paid career in the law is the nine-year old boy who was disinherited from a 500,000 estate last week after a judge ruled that because his father murdered his grandparents, he was not entitled to a penny (The Independent, 10 November).

The 'rule of forfeiture' - meaning murderers cannot benefit from their victims' deaths - is 'unjust' and 'incompatible with the Human Rights Act', according to criminal lawyers, and could be the first to fall foul of the Act.

Criminal lawyers had a busy week - when not threatening strike action over legal aid rates or defending the plight of under 10s, they were championing the removal of the 'two strikes and you're out' law, which requires judges to pass a mandatory life sentence for a second serious offence.

The rule - which was introduced by Michael Howard when he was Home Secretary, and described as 'the ugliest criminal justice act in the last 50 years', and 'even tougher than the toughest American states' (The Guardian, 10 November) - was overturned in a 'laudably tactful' (The Times, 10 November) landmark judgment by Lord Woolf, the Lord Chief Justice.

Finally, the job of Law Society President is envied far and wide.

The Daily Telegraph reported current president Michael Napier's recollection of a visit to Rampton Hospital as chairman of the mental health review tribunal (7 November).

He introduced himself to a patient as 'Mike Napier, chairman of the tribunal'.

Back came the reply: 'When I came in here, I thought I was the President of the Law Society.'

Victoria MacCallum