Arbitration & Mediation

The legal profession has a PR problem: one sad reason why

By Diane Levin

Lawyers have a PR problem.

A recently released Gallup survey indicates that only 25% of Americans view lawyers favorably. The public likes lawyers even less than they do banking, the airline industries, and the federal government, none of which is particularly popular these days.

I hear this reflected in conversations with prospective and current mediation clients, who view lawyers with suspicion. Among the comments I’ve heard lately are these:

• Lawyers will just screw everything up.
• They’ll deplete all our assets and leave nothing for our family.
• Lawyers only make things worse.
• Lawyers? In my experience, they’re happy to take your money, not your phone calls.

Here’s what one caller said on learning about collaborative law:

• Lawyers collaborate? Sorry for being blunt, but, yeah, when pigs fly.

Their reason for distrusting lawyers so much?

They see them as creating problems, not solving them.

Full post as published by Online Guide to Mediation on August 26, 2009 (boomark / email).