Get over it, Carr tells jobless lawyers

Sydney Morning Herald ^ | 12/7/2003 | Alex Mitchell

[ccmay]

Premier Bob Carr has a blunt message for the hundreds of Sydney lawyers out of work because of his Government's law reforms: "Get retrained and start another job."

He was unmoved by the report that the entire 14th floor of Wardell Chambers in Martin Place, employing 23 barristers and support staff, will close its doors on December 31.

Offering no apology for the jobs shake-out in law practices following his legislative assault on "the culture of litigation", Mr Carr said: "The fact is there will be fewer jobs for lawyers, but with their education they are well placed to go into retraining.

"In this modern day and age a lot of workers have had to be retrained.

"Lawyers are not a protected species, and their habits of over-litigation were adding to the cost of doing business in NSW.

"We couldn't have allowed it to go on."

Mr Carr claimed that while excessive litigation had lined the pockets of lawyers, it had resulted in the closure of community events, the wrecking of the workers' compensation system and could have put thousands of people out of work.

Over the past 18 months the Carr Government has introduced a series of major reforms on public liability to reduce the financial impact on insurance companies and to slow down the escalating rate of premiums.

The Civil Liability (Personal Responsibility) Act and its amendments introduced caps and thresholds on compensation and shifted the balance towards greater personal responsibility to avoid long and expensive court cases.

The result has been a sharp drop in casework for solicitors and barristers specialising in personal injury cases.

"We reformed it," Mr Carr said. "But I make no apologies for cleaning up this culture of over-litigation, of reining it in.

"Everyone was suing everyone and trying to get a pot of money at the end of the rainbow.

"And it was just bankrupting Australia, so we cleaned it up.

"Now workers are getting more out of the workers' comp system and they are going to continue to get more," he said. "But it does mean less going to lawyers. I know where I prefer it to go."

NSW Bar Association president Ian Harrison, SC, said last week that a quarter to a third of all barristers would disappear or have their practices adversely affected within the next six to 18 months.

The Wardell Chambers floor closure is linked directly to the winding up of the NSW Workers Compensation Court this month and restrictions on injury claims under the Government's reforms.

NSW Law Society president Robert Benjamin said 30 to 40 per cent of the state's 18,000 solicitors were involved in personal injury and compensation work and would be hit by the Carr Government's law changes.

[packrat35]

You too. Got you beat, I got thre seperate checks in 3 envelopes 14 cents, 14 cents, and 4 cents.

What a crock.

[jocon307]

"What the world really needs is more scientists and engineers and physicians and architects and small-business owners. Lawyers are typically smart enough to do any of these jobs."

Well, here is where I disagree. Lawyers are smart enough to be small business owners, but it is a widely acknowledged situation that most folks who enter the field of law are NOT naturally endowed with the abilities required to be scientists, engineers, doctors, or architects. They lack math ability, and for the most part come from the "humanities". Of course, a lot of them think they "know better" about medicine than doctors, etc. but that doesn't change the fact that a good many of them would have pursued such careers, but didn't have the god-given talent to do so.

I say this as a person who is really bad at math, and currently works as a bookkeeper for a law firm. Beleive me, I know technology not only destroys jobs but creates them. Without the man who invented the calculator, I'd never have my job. But my grasp of arithmatic is top-notch and I tell you in all sincerity, out of 12 lawyers at my firm 2 (two) only are numerate at all. And they do all the trusts and estates work. The rest are completely hopeless. And these are men with fine educations, quite smart, wonderful fellows. You wouldn't want them making your change at the supermarket, forget about being engineers. The average low level drug dealer has a better working relationship with numbers than they do.

So all these unemployed Aussie lawyers better start writing the Great Australian Novel, and maybe we'll get lucky on it.

And I am NOT being sarcastic.

[ridesthemiles]

Praise the lord indeed; come on over Mr.Carr we need a new labor secretary.

We surely need him in Calif to help clean up Workmen's comp. They raised rates over 100% in the past 2 years, and they are "giving" us back a 3.6 % reduction. When I do the math, there is still a serious impact to the business owner.
Can we invite this man to speak to the Calif Legislature with MANDATORY attendance by the "elected representatives" ?

[TheMole]

I want them CRUSHED. I want them RUINED. I want them DESTROYED.

That's awfully judgmental, cc. You know it's really unfair how all lawyers get that bad reputation because of the way 99% of them act.

[#3Fan]

What the world really needs is more scientists and engineers and physicians and architects and small-business owners. Lawyers are typically smart enough to do any of these jobs. By choosing to engage in destructive, corrosive legal plundering instead of an honest profession, they are destroying civil society. Let them find honest constructive work, or starve to death for all I care.

I agree.

[Spell Correctly]

Practicing

[Map Kernow]

Practicing

It's this darn new laptop---it's paractically impossible to keep your fingers on the right keys all the time! :)

[Spell Correctly]

I hate laptops.

[Petronski]

I received a check yesterday for .03 from a class action lawsuit from a credit card. Yes, you read right...THREE CENTS. I'd like to know how much the lawyers got from this one.

Hah! I was in that class action too, and I got $0.46, yep forty-six cents.