LAWYER QUOTES IV

quotations about lawyers

lawyers quote

I cannot believe that a republic could subsist if the influence of the lawyers in public business did not increase in proportion to the power of the people.

ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE

Democracy in America


Why don't you ever hear of a lawyer getting attacked by a shark at the beach? Professional courtesy.

THOMAS F. SHUBNELL

Greatest Jokes of the Century


It is an ill cause that the lawyer thinks shame o'.

JOHN RAY

A Complete Collection of English Proverbs


As to the essentials of a good lawyer, I have some very definite convictions. He should have a keen sense of right and wrong and a firm belief in basic moral values. I would hate to trust the welfare or protection of the life or property of any of my clients to a lawyer who had no respect for moral values, or one who had a callous indifference as to what was basically right and wrong.

JOSEPH T. KARCHER

New Jersey Lawyer, Nov. 1986


Lawyers are like wine--you can pay a lot of money for a fancy bottle that tastes like vinegar, or you can find a good deal that fits your budget and your palate alike.

KAREN A. COVY

When Happily Ever After Ends


Successful trial lawyers are like heat-seeking missiles carrying payloads of information prejudicial to their opponent's case, constantly looking for the chance to unload their cargo, right up until the final moments of trial.

DAVID BERG

The Trial Lawyer


Some lawyers are like unto the camel, which, before drinking out of a brook, maketh the water turbid with his foot.

ADOLPHUS WILLIAM WARD

"Abraham a Sancta Clara", Collected Papers


Lawyers are like painters--once they get into a house, you never know when you will get rid of them again.

PETER ANDERSON GRAHAM

The Red Scaur


Lawyers are like unrequited lovers--you give them an inch, and they go for the whole nine yards; you take off one shoe, and they pull down your pants.

ANDRES RUEDA

The Clawback


Lawyers are in the business of advocacy, not judgment.

ALLAN C. HUTCHINSON

Is Killing People Right?


Lawyers rarely test their power, or the power they promote, against this simple pragmatic question: "Will it do good?" When challenged about the expanding reach of the law, the lawyer answers, "Why not?"

LAWRENCE LESSIG

Free Culture

Tags: Lawrence Lessig


I realized the true function of a lawyer was to unite parties riven asunder. The lesson was so indelibly burnt into me that a large part of my time during the twenty years of my practice as a lawyer was occupied in bringing about private compromises of hundreds of cases. I lost nothing thereby -- not even money, certainly not my soul.

MAHATMA GANDHI

An Autobiography

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Anyone who believes a better day dawns when lawyers are eliminated has the burden of explaining who will take their place. Who will protect the poor, the injured, the victims of negligence, the victims of racial discrimination, and the victims of racial violence?... Lawyers are the simple yet essential means by which people seek to vindicate their rights and we must not foreclose that means.

JOHN CURTIN

remarks at American Bar Association annual meeting, Aug. 13, 1991


Jury--Twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer.

LENORA OLIVER

Herald, 1938


A lawyer is an odd sort of fish, first rotten, then green, then ripe.

ROBERT CHRISTY

Proverbs, Maxims and Phrases


No group has a greater responsibility today in helping maintain our free institutions of society than the lawyer. In fact, being a man of the law, he is uniquely equipped through training, outlook and experience to be a leader of his fellow citizens. American history confirms his tremendous contribution--helping draw up the basic documentation of our freedom, serving as a leader in local, state and national government, participating in the affairs of community life. At this hour, America especially needs the leadership of the lawyer. The moral fabric of our Nation is badly torn. Disrespect for law and order is widespread. The very principles of free government are being scorned and perverted. Flouting the law has almost become a hobby for some individuals.

J. EDGAR HOOVER

Texas Bar Journal, Feb. 22, 1964


As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough. Never stir up litigation. A worse man can scarcely be found than one who does this.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

notes for a law lecture, July 1, 1850?

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Lawyers enjoy a little mystery, you know. Why, if everybody came forward and told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth straight out, we should all retire to the workhouse.

DOROTHY L. SAYERS

Clouds of Witness

Tags: Dorothy L. Sayers


Lawyers are a bad lot.... They cheat their living out of honest people.

ALBERT R. CARMAN

Incurable!


Lawyers generally know too much of law to have a very clear perception of justice.

ELIZA COOK

Diamond Dust

Tags: Eliza Cook