It sounds like you're implying that lawyers do all this on their own initiative. In fact, they do these things because their client orders it done (with the ex

It sounds like you're implying that lawyers do all this on their own initiative. In fact, they do these things because their client orders it done (with the exception of case law, of course, but why is making case law bad?). Blaming lawyers for these things is like blaming the messenger for the message. Your description of what lawyers do is too one-sided. Lawyers not only send out nastygrams, but they help those who are the targets of nastygrams. Lawyers not only initiate lawsuits (because their clients want to sue), but also defend people from lawsuits. Lawyers fight for the rights of the oppressed, the poor, and the unjustly accused and unjustly imprisoned. Of course, that's not all lawyers do, and not all lawyers do these things. But it's unfair not to mention the good that lawyers do, and pretend that all they do is reprehensible.