Indeed, the profit motive is simply another way of describing economic essentials that have everything to do with efficiency, good use of resources, excellence, and yes, justice. It is the nearly-unfettered profit motive and the relatively modern credit and insurance technologies that serve it (in other words, capitalism), that have brought more prosperity and a higher quality of life for more people than ever before.

Quite frankly, those who expound on this knee-jerk anti-capitalist mantra are observationally-challenged. It is intolerable that someone in Slayton’s position could reiterate such a blithe and thoughtless rubric.

Of course, this is not even to mention the amazing work that lots of otherwise “profit-seeking” attorneys do for absolutely no compensation for the poor, the working class, and the downtrodden. And furthermore, what attorney worth his salt has not cast copious loaves of bread upon the water giving advice to clients (big and small, usually small) from which he will never receive compensation?

Thanks again for your post. I look forward with keen interest to following your blog as it develops.

Pete

Great post. I appreciate very much your comments about the respectability, reasonableness, necessity and down-right wholesomeness of providing legal services for profit. To my mind, people who make the kinds of knee-jerk comments benoaning anyone working towards the profit-motive betray a fundamental mistrust of free markets, of capitalism, and, frankly, of democracy. As you point out briefly, markets require that services become more and more honed to the needs of those served. Individuals and entities at all levels demand and receive increased quality in legal and other services by virtue of those forces. Those who believe otherwise seem to me observationally challenged.

At any rate, as you do not hesitate to point out, there are legion attorneys working for all classes of society. Indeed, the majority of lawyers (although fewer as a percentage all the time) represent “mid-market”, “small businesses” and just plain regular folks. This is to say nothing of those legion attorneys that work tirelessly for the poor, underprivileged and otherwise challenged in our society.

At any rate, thanks again for making such a plain and needed response to Slayton’s book.

Best regards and all that . . . I look forward to reading many more such thoughtful posts.

pete