AMST 3822 Chapter 1: Lowering the bar chapter 1
Document Summary
Used to be a joke about husbands since the 1940s but appeared in print about lawyers in 1986 and stuck in us. Joins large company of jokes blaming lawyers for misusing and corrupting language. One group of old stories plays on similarity of sounds liar and lawyer. Lawyers propensity to lie with ability to represent either side. Lawyers not only liars, but indifferent to merits of the disputes and have no compunction about using their art against the meritorious side if it is to their advantage. Other stories make clear that fashioning lies is the essence of the lawyer"s role. Through the centuries lying and dishonesty are identified as a qualification for being a lawyer and an expertise that lawyers can be expected to display. For some it is the inability to lie that is a source of disappointment. The scarcity of honest lawyers theme is elaborated in many stories.