David Giacalone of ethicalEsq? has some reasonable thoughts about why lawyers are so poorly regarded. He starts in a familiar place:
“Lawyers, Liars, Bah!” That’s what my immigrant, blue-collar Grandpa said, when I told him thirty years ago I’d be joining my twin brother as a student at Harvard Law School. Three words, and he never brought up the subject again.”
He goes on to examine why it is that people distrust lawyers –except their own lawyer, whom they trust in the way that one trusts a gun that one is pointing at someone else.
P.S. If you appreciate my observations, you might want to check this out.