Message text written by Bill Allen > Hersh has benefited from credentialism too; he knows as well as I that many is the person who could represent a client as well as he with his JD or I with my LLB. But we have the benefit of the lawyer's monopoly.<
Ah yes, Bill, but that monopoly derives not from the degree alone, but rather from membership in a bar that requires both the degree and passing a brutal 13-hour exam (in my state) to attain, and continuing legal education to maintain. This is not to say that there aren't non-members of the bar who could do what we do, or that there aren't members of the bar who cannot competently do what we do. But in general, I think that the monopoly is earned and it benefits not only the lawyers, but also the public. I would not want to be given medical treatment by someone who lacked a medical degree and a state license, and I wouldn't want to be legally represented by an unlicensed person either. You may call that credentialism; I call it common sense. Bob H
