[Howard Treesong]

[ QUOTE ]
From what I've seen, lawyering seems to be nothing more than oration, trying to make the worse argument the better, to flatter the jury, to win an argument with little regard for truth. Why should anyone respect lawyers?

[/ QUOTE ]

Oration is the visible tip of a much deeper and more complicated iceberg. Good lawyering involves finding out and understanding facts, doing accurate risk assessment, and organizing highly complex processes. Truth matters quite a bit, although the adversarial process isn't necessarily the best way to root it out. In my case, I'm not a high-charisma guy, and typically rely on more thorough and careful analysis to carry the day. That's also why I was mostly a defense lawyer. If I had to characterize in very very broad strokes, I'd say the plaintiffs' bar rates higher in charisma, while the defense bar rates higher on the analysis scale. That's certainly not a universal truth, of course.

At the edges, your criticisms have merit. At root, I don't think they accurately reflect what most litigators do, setting aside all the other types of lawyers out there.