Because I am still exhausted from my family weekend, and I am being prodded to write about less despairing and desperate topics, a colleague suggested to me that I write about  whether fundamental change in the legal profession is a good or bad thing.  That begs the question; change is required because the business model doesn’t work anymore.  The question is what changes will make lawyering profitable again while maintaining the ethical strictures that are so very necessary.  Reality is a bitch that way.  Doctors apprentice for 3-4 years after medical school and are not paid well during the apprentice years.  Similarly, law school graduates need to get used to the apprenticeship model and not expect insane incomes right out of law school.  Cost of legal services should be a fixed percentage of the deal but that only works if clients are loyal so that, over the course of a year, the law firm generates the necessary profit to maintain quality and generous incomes.  WAIT! STOP!! Lawyers should not have a pecuniary interest in the outcome of a case or transaction (with notable exceptions such as contingency cases that allow access to the courts).   Ok, the fix isn’t so easy.

Ok, not as interesting to me as the insane people riding on NYC transportation, but maybe worth delving into.  Or maybe too high minded for me.