I just discovered that Johnie Cochran is a new tenant in my building. I understand that Mr. Cochran has sworn off criminal law and is now pursuing ambulances in nine states and the District of Columbia. Well, I have read that the district courts of St. Louis are one of the most popular venues for filing personal injury lawsuits since "sympathetic" juries are virtually guaranteed for personal injury plaintiffs.
Ok Spoons, Professor Reynolds, Dodd, etc..., how does the ABA's Model Rules of Professional Conduct address the practice of jury shopping and systematic abuse of the law of torts? Are ethics only about process, or is there some fundamental ideal of justice behind them? Sorry to be snarky, but as a layman, I don't understand why your profession allows this to go on.
The overwhelming majority of judges, especially at the state level where they often face election, are unwilling to hold lawyers accountable for blatantly unethical forum shopping. Remember, judges are lawyers, so they're inclined to defend their brethren from the grumblings of mere laymen like us. Until you either end the professional bar's monopoly over the practice of law or start holding judges accountable for allowing their courts to be abused, the present system will continue.
Posted by: Skip Oliva at 09:55 AMCurious - from reading your blog I didn't get the impression you were naive.
That 'profession' has the intent of being a cost center for all human interaction. It's just about money.
Posted by: Misanthropyst at 10:17 AM