Why you shouldn't hate lawyers (or at least not all of us)

The LinkedIn comments on my recent post about Donald Trump targeting the Perkins Coie law firm really caught me off guard. I expected some debate and pushback. What I didn't expect, however, was the level of vitriol directed at lawyers and the legal profession in general. The anger, the contempt, the full-blown hatred, just for people doing their jobs.

I get it. Lawyers aren't winning any popularity contests. We're perceived somewhere between used car salesmen and that guy who takes up two spots in the parking lot. The lawyer jokes never stop. ("What do you call 1,000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? A good start." "Why don’t sharks attack lawyers? Professional courtesy." I've heard them all.)

A modest proposal to revamp continuing legal education credits #CLECreditsforBlogging

"I'm finishing all my CLE credits this week. It amazes me how if you keep up with law changes regularly how out-of-date these CLEs feel."

That's an excerpt of a recent conversation between my friend, Kate Bischoff, and me. Kate is 100 percent correct. I learn very little, if anything from the continuing education courses I take. I take them because the Ohio Supreme Court requires me to check a 24-credit box every two years, not because they offer me any educational value.