[Matticus_Rex]

> Allow me to explain a contrarian position. Judges favor individuals that use an expensive lawyer for representation, even if there isn't much of a legal argument to be made. Judges give such individuals a far better deal. The reason for this is that hiring an expensive lawyer shows that you've paid homage to the legal profession with your wallet, that you support the systemic judicial-attorney-penalty complex. It grants you favors.

This isn't why expensive lawyers tend to get better results in court, or why those who represent themselves often end up screwed. I'm against the legal monopoly system, but this is out-of-touch and silly.

[OutOfHere]

> but this is out-of-touch and silly.

Expensive lawyers can get better deals in court even for run-of-the-mill cases. Why is this? Are cheaper lawyers so dumb that they can't even handle common cases?

[Matticus_Rex]

Expensive lawyers have better relationships with opposing parties, have more and better legal research both already on hand and available to be done, with more and smarter people doing research, with more and more experienced people available to consult, and may hire outside consultants when the situation calls for it.

They can also better afford to play dirty in various ways, from burying you in discovery documents to dragging things out with various motions.

And in general, yes — they often also have at least slightly smarter lawyers (and more eyes on the case). That doesn't mean cheaper lawyers are dumb, and there are smart lawyers out there who aren't incredibly expensive, but the average intelligence goes up noticeably as you interact with more expensive firms (which tracks, because they hired people with the top performance in and possibly after law school).

AI may close the gap on some things, but not others.

FYI, even lawyers who represent themselves generally don't do well, no matter how smart they are or how much experience they have in that area. But that's not because the judge wants them to pay into the cartel -- it's because law is hard, there are a million factors affecting performance on a particular case, and one major factor is ability to keep perspective on your case. People are uniformly terrible at this when looking at their own cases.

[arctic-true]

Cheaper lawyers can’t afford to pay for as many research librarians, paralegals, junior attorneys, writing consultants, jury consultants, etc. LLMs may level the playing field in this regard. But of course, the expensive lawyer might be able to pay for more tokens.