Lawyers Have To Laugh Too

As a cartoonist, I find myself in the precarious position of writing about law. Though I do take the law seriously, I find humor in it as well. And I believe I have carte blanche to do so.

I come from a family of attorneys. One of my direct maternal ancestors was Supreme Court Judge Benjamin Cardozo. That name might not mean much to many, but it does within the legal community. His word, still, a century or so later, remains the final word on Constitutional Law.

I have dated attorneys. Some are very astute, and some not so good. I have watched them in the courtroom. Sometimes it is dramatic, sometimes a bit drab. But I continue to have an affinity for the law, given that it is in my blood, I guess. Of course my mother insisted upon either law or medical school for me, so like the good rebellious baby-boomer of the 60's, I became a cartoonist. At least I could make people laugh purposely. People laugh at lawyers, and often the attorney in question does not appreciate it. But how can we help it? I know, I know. They are just doing their job, and we laugh at them, until we need them. Then they are our confidants.

To be fair, most lawyers of whom I have met and/or associated, truly take their jobs and cases seriously. Sure, like everyone else in business, money is a motivator, but not always the primary motivator. Many, yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus, (or clause in this case), many have a very altruistic side, and take the law and their clients very seriously and want to help.

As the old joke goes, "It is the 98% of dishonest lawyers who give the other 2% a bad name". It's a great joke, but really far from reality. Many lawyers are just doing their job, just like you and me.

Sometimes hiring a lawyer can be expensive, and several Internet-savvy lawyers have launched websites in which the common layman can read, study, and learn about law and legal forms, and actually pay and download template forms from the sites at a fraction of the cost of hiring a law firm.
Some of these sites include Findlaw.com, Legalzoom.com, and the up-and-coming Lawkipedia.org, which has not yet been launched but is in the plans for this year. It will probably be the most exciting and different of all the other legal websites, just from what I understand regarding the planning.

Still, the saying goes, "The person who represents himself legally has hired a fool for a lawyer. And that is true. Especially regarding courtrooms and criminal law.

But many business conflicts do not have to turn into courtroom law. Mediation has become very popular and there are ways to work out such conflicts, often, and bring the parties even closer, once they realize they have similar goals, simply different ideas as to how to reach those goals. That is okay. It is often done by more professional persons, who is not out to "trash" a partner or remove him/her from the scene. I have seen it work many times.

Because law is of interest to me, I make sure to do a great many law related cartoons, and produce funny lawyer gifts. Even though many of them poke fun at lawyers, I find the majority have a great sense of humor, and more often than not, when the orders come in for our gifts and collectibles featuring lawyer cartoons, the names have a "comma and Esquire" at the end, in other words, our biggest customers who love to make fun of themselves, are, indeed attorneys.