> First, the amount of conflict rises proportionally with the number of interactions between people. This means larger societies have more (superlinearly more)

> First, the amount of conflict rises proportionally with the number of interactions between people. This means larger societies have more (superlinearly more) conflict than smaller ones, more active economies have more conflict than less active ones, and heterogenous societies have more conflict than homogenous ones. What you are saying is reaonable and might be true in a lot of places, but Japan has 1/50 as many lawyers per capita as the US. It's also much, much more homogenous than the US, but can that explain 1/50? There has to be more than that. > Second, different countries use different mechanisms to accomplish the same tasks. Yes, and that is completely cultural, not structural. The US has chosen certain mechanisms, as a result of that choice more lawyers are needed than elsewhere, but if that burden becomes too heavy, many americans might start choosing differently, might start resolving disputes in a cheaper way. I'll give you that heterogenity and being the hub for international financial transactions increases the need, but I still think culture plays a large part as well, and, to get back to the original argument, that means that the American Bar Association and similar have to watch out, they can't assume the demand for legal services to be boundless in the same way as it is for medical services.