The Economics of Lawyering

* Dana Parsons’ lament in his Aug. 12 column about the number of lawyers demonstrates a misunderstanding of economics.

He asks: “How can this be good?” Simple. The legal profession is subject to the law of supply and demand. The increased competition generated by an increase in the number of providers will always drive down the price of the service.

The number of lawyers as well as the price of legal services are dictated by the market. Artificially limiting the number of lawyers would artificially increase the cost of legal services to everyone, from corporations to Joe Average.

Also, an increase in lawyers does not translate to an increase in frivolous lawsuits, any more than an increase in the number of doctors would cause an increase in the number of unnecessary surgeries, (nor any more than an increase in the number of columnists would mean an increase in the number of frivolous newspaper articles).

Those who choose to pursue frivolous lawsuits, whether corporations or individuals, are going to do so regardless of the number of lawyers. Tort lawsuits by individuals and personal injury lawsuit filings have declined dramatically over the past decade, even though the number of lawyers has increased.

KEVIN CALCAGNIE

Laguna Niguel