How many times have we all said that?
If I ran this job then....
If I ran the country then....
It's almost as much fun to play as if I won the lottery I'd.....
So here's my if, and it comes after a few rotten experiences with lawyers followed by shoulder shrugs and 'oops' that left me wondering if there's such a thing as justice and knowing full well that the judicial system has become nothing more that a giant, cumbersome machine that swallows citizens and randomly spits them out the other side in an ongoing effort to just get all the meat ground no matter what it looks like in the end.
But I'm not here to vent about that. Not today.
In fact I'm well aware that there are many very good lawyers out there that work very hard to do the right thing.
However...
Today I'm playing the If I game.
There are different kinds of lawyers: criminal lawyers, family lawyers, tax lawyers to name a few. And as I mentioned, there's good lawyers and bad lawyers, same as any other profession. But no matter what kind of lawyer they may be, they will be expensive. Which means that not everyone who needs a lawyer can GET a lawyer.
That's just not right.
Oh wait, you say...there's Legal Aid.
You have to qualify for Legal Aid, meaning a single person must make less than $18,000 per year (less than what someone would receive from UI Benefits by the way) AND they will only help you fight certain issues such as child custody and access and criminal charges.
Now while I haven't come up with a way for people to afford justice that are living the big life bringing in $1600 per month and need help in those areas, I have come up with what I consider a brilliant idea for any court issue that concerns monetary settlement. It's particularly beneficial to the vast number of people who have been victimized financially by ruthless individuals and corporations who are aware that only people with a fairly significant amount of money can afford to fight for what's rightfully theirs.
Are you ready?
This is way better than my peanut butter jar idea.
In my world, lawyers wouldn't be permitted to charge a penny up front for any case with a cash settlement whether it be a ridiculous law suit or divorce settlement.
They'd get a percentage of the settlement after court fees. If they won. Just like the ambulance chasers only better.
Lawyers are a smart lot and I'd like to think the majority of them start law school with the best of intentions. Experience tells me too many of them enjoy the growing personal bank accounts more though. And let's face it, win or lose, they are still making big bucks. In fact it's one of the rare professions where you can keep making $300 an hour even if you really suck at your job.
So I says to myself....self? How do you make a lawyer do his/her job well, quickly and efficiently? How do you make them better at what they do? How do you give justice a better chance at prevailing?
Well, you pay them....
If they win something for their client. And the faster they win, the faster they get paid. Talk about a good way to move cases through the system. After all, the way things work now, the longer the case goes on, the more money the lawyers make. So cases go on for a long time for no real reason other than to line their own pockets. That's not right either. Needs to stop.
If they lose, at least the client isn't the only loser. As well they shouldn't be. The way it stands today, if you lose in court you lose what you were fighting for and thousands of dollars in lawyer's fees that were, well, wasted. Talk about an extra kick in the teeth. The lawyer doesn't care...he gets paid, goes home and forgets about it. Win some lose some. And what happens when justice doesn't prevail?
Absolutely nothing. You're just screwed.
However, I'm willing to bet that getting paid would serve as remarkable inspiration for lawyers to do their best work all the time. Maybe it would even serve justice better. Accountability is a funny thing. Perhaps people would think twice before putting the screws to someone out of spite or revenge too. Good luck getting a lawyer to defend your slimy ass.
Are there flaws in my plan? Undoubtedly. I figure it's a start though. And it beats the heck about just venting and accepting things will never change because that's just the way it is. Lawyers run the world after all.
That in fact, would also change, if I had the power. Lawyers would not run the world.
If I had the power, I would do everything I could to restore balance, fairness, equality and justice. Things I haven't seen much of lately.
I don't have the power though...just my faith. I know the Big Guy will take care of justice ultimately in some way, shape or form. I just wish we did a better job at being decent .. life would be so much simpler!
Now I dare you to ask me what I'd do politically...if I had the power...
If I ran this job then....
If I ran the country then....
It's almost as much fun to play as if I won the lottery I'd.....
So here's my if, and it comes after a few rotten experiences with lawyers followed by shoulder shrugs and 'oops' that left me wondering if there's such a thing as justice and knowing full well that the judicial system has become nothing more that a giant, cumbersome machine that swallows citizens and randomly spits them out the other side in an ongoing effort to just get all the meat ground no matter what it looks like in the end.
But I'm not here to vent about that. Not today.
In fact I'm well aware that there are many very good lawyers out there that work very hard to do the right thing.
However...
Today I'm playing the If I game.
There are different kinds of lawyers: criminal lawyers, family lawyers, tax lawyers to name a few. And as I mentioned, there's good lawyers and bad lawyers, same as any other profession. But no matter what kind of lawyer they may be, they will be expensive. Which means that not everyone who needs a lawyer can GET a lawyer.
That's just not right.
Oh wait, you say...there's Legal Aid.
You have to qualify for Legal Aid, meaning a single person must make less than $18,000 per year (less than what someone would receive from UI Benefits by the way) AND they will only help you fight certain issues such as child custody and access and criminal charges.
Now while I haven't come up with a way for people to afford justice that are living the big life bringing in $1600 per month and need help in those areas, I have come up with what I consider a brilliant idea for any court issue that concerns monetary settlement. It's particularly beneficial to the vast number of people who have been victimized financially by ruthless individuals and corporations who are aware that only people with a fairly significant amount of money can afford to fight for what's rightfully theirs.
Are you ready?
This is way better than my peanut butter jar idea.
In my world, lawyers wouldn't be permitted to charge a penny up front for any case with a cash settlement whether it be a ridiculous law suit or divorce settlement.
They'd get a percentage of the settlement after court fees. If they won. Just like the ambulance chasers only better.
Lawyers are a smart lot and I'd like to think the majority of them start law school with the best of intentions. Experience tells me too many of them enjoy the growing personal bank accounts more though. And let's face it, win or lose, they are still making big bucks. In fact it's one of the rare professions where you can keep making $300 an hour even if you really suck at your job.
So I says to myself....self? How do you make a lawyer do his/her job well, quickly and efficiently? How do you make them better at what they do? How do you give justice a better chance at prevailing?
Well, you pay them....
If they win something for their client. And the faster they win, the faster they get paid. Talk about a good way to move cases through the system. After all, the way things work now, the longer the case goes on, the more money the lawyers make. So cases go on for a long time for no real reason other than to line their own pockets. That's not right either. Needs to stop.
If they lose, at least the client isn't the only loser. As well they shouldn't be. The way it stands today, if you lose in court you lose what you were fighting for and thousands of dollars in lawyer's fees that were, well, wasted. Talk about an extra kick in the teeth. The lawyer doesn't care...he gets paid, goes home and forgets about it. Win some lose some. And what happens when justice doesn't prevail?
Absolutely nothing. You're just screwed.
However, I'm willing to bet that getting paid would serve as remarkable inspiration for lawyers to do their best work all the time. Maybe it would even serve justice better. Accountability is a funny thing. Perhaps people would think twice before putting the screws to someone out of spite or revenge too. Good luck getting a lawyer to defend your slimy ass.
Are there flaws in my plan? Undoubtedly. I figure it's a start though. And it beats the heck about just venting and accepting things will never change because that's just the way it is. Lawyers run the world after all.
That in fact, would also change, if I had the power. Lawyers would not run the world.
If I had the power, I would do everything I could to restore balance, fairness, equality and justice. Things I haven't seen much of lately.
I don't have the power though...just my faith. I know the Big Guy will take care of justice ultimately in some way, shape or form. I just wish we did a better job at being decent .. life would be so much simpler!
Now I dare you to ask me what I'd do politically...if I had the power...
Stumbled across this blog through a google search. Very well said Vikki and to think I am going to have to be dealing with these fools in the very near future :(
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