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Is America Over-Lawyered, Shirley M. Hufstedler

Cleveland State Law Review

Are we over-lawyered? The answer that a lawyer must give is the kind of response that always exasperates laypersons-yes and no. We do have far more lawyers than we can absorb in the existing professional structures, at costs that can be paid by persons who need those services. The unmet need for legal services is very large and growing. Program after program designed to fund legal aid for the poor has been cut or extinguished. Even in a profession that is as crowded as our own, there is always room for the very best, the dedicated and the least selfish.