Saturday, October 20, 2007

Shouldn't this be Good News?

The Wall Street Journal has a front page piece noting the legal sector lags the economy:

A slack in demand appears to be part of the problem. The legal sector, after more than tripling in inflation-adjusted growth between 1970 and 1987, has grown at an average annual inflation-adjusted rate of 1.2% since 1988, or less than half as fast as the broader economy, according to Commerce Department data.

Some practice areas have declined in recent years: Personal-injury and medical-malpractice cases have been undercut by state laws limiting class-action suits, out-of-state plaintiffs and payouts on damages. Securities class action litigation has declined in part because of a buoyant stock market.
While most of the article dwells on the plight of law school graduates who are ranked below their top-tier classmates; I have to consider this good news overall. I can't help but wonder if the economy in general has received a boost because of those laws limiting class action suits. I'm sure, however, we'll see news about the plight of America because of the dearth of law suits.

Originally posted in UNCoRRELATED Sept 24 2007

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