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Brooklyn Memoir  

 Brooklyn Memoir (34) 
Lawyers in US

 I consulted a lawyer once during my 3 year stay in NYC. It was when I was hospitalized for a traffic accident. The husband of a female resident one year ahead of me was a lawyer. Since he had just started his career, he introduced me his boss. When I was discharged from the hospital, the lawyer visited my apartment. Surprisingly he didn’t charge anything before the process. I understood that as a professional incentive, he would receive a certain percentage of amount of money I might be awarded if I won the case. I was awarded $20, 000 a relatively small amount.
We originally demanded one million dollars which seems to be routine according to my lawyer. The more we receive as an award, the percentage the lawyer receives goes down (the net amount goes up of course).
In my case the lawyer took 50% of the $20, 000.

The lawyer explained the above system, and then told me the famous line just like in the movie, "Tell anyone to talk to the lawyer concerning this case, even to your parents." My lawyer seemed reliable when he said this to me. And I trusted him.

This way it is very easy to consult with a lawyer in U.S. Since there are an enormous amount of lawyers, the competition for clients is very severe.
The combination of this phenomena gave rise to millions of lawsuits in the U.S.

Many American citizens are concerned about the present situation.
Even some of the lawyers are, and think something has to be done.
This theme is pretty well discussed in the movie "The Verdict" in which Paul Newman played a lawyer. In the movie Newman, who used to be a good lawyer became alcoholic and worked as a so-called ambulance chaser because of the too much pressure. He realized what the primary role of a lawyer should be when he was asked to defend a malpractice case, and he won the case.

I happened to meet a former American lawyer. I’ve known her for 20 years and we had a chance to see each other so asked her, " How’s the lawyer business in the U.S?" " Oh, I quit," she replied. She said that there is no justice any more in American judicial system. What you see there is the extreme principle of capitalism. Therefore, it is treachery to her professional conscience and nothing more than the torture to continue her job as a lawyer. What is she doing now? She is selling handmade chocolates in a small town on the east coast.
Believe me, this is a true story.

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