Tuesday, April 17, 2007

San Francisco Attorneys: Too Many, Too Expensive

According to the latest edition of the San Francisco Yellow Pages, there are 40 pages listing attorneys. Notably in those same Yellow Pages, a cumulative 40 pages of life's necessities are listed in smaller increments.: appliances, 3 pgs. ; clothes, 5 pgs. ; electricians, 5 pgs.; engineers, 4 pgs. ; grocers, 4 pgs. ; plumbing, 13 pgs. and hospitals, 2 pgs. . They add up to 36 pages, so you have some change left over. Maybe you want an accountant which are listed on 4 pages.

Why do we have all these lawyers compared to the meager percentages of necessry professions and vendors? I think there are 2 main reasons. The first is the lure of money, lots of money whether the attorney wins, loses or settles. The legal system is so costly because of its built-in systems of legal complicating procedures that continually put arriving at a resolution into another month or year. The second reason follows from the first. Since " according to the law" requires attorneys to track the maze of instructions codified in juris prudence, one need only be a good map reader, greedy and not much value-added in planning.

Follow these instructions and many expensive,billable hours will follow.

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