abundance of lawyers

[frank recktenwald]

There´s an article in Listin diario stating that the DR has approx. 35,920 lawyers. On a population of approx. 9 million that means for every 250 persons you have one lawyer.
If one needs a lawyer this amount could be good however most of them are illiterate according to the article!!
La República - En el país hay 35,920 abogados registrados

[Chirimoya]

One of the people quoted in the article claimed that 95% high-school graduates (bachilleres) were illiterate:

...el doctor Pedro Duarte Canaán, director de la Escuela de Derecho de la Universidad del Caribe, considera oportuno que se revalide el título de bachiller, ya que a su entender, el 95% de los bachilleres son analfabetos.

A trifle exaggerated, no?

[frank recktenwald]

Originally Posted by Chirimoya

One of the people quoted in the article claimed that 95% high-school graduates (bachilleres) were illiterate:



A trifle exaggerated, no?

Most likely a little exaggerated but I´ve read some documents in the past drafted by lawyers and they were full of mistakes.

[Chirimoya]

Nitpicking here, but 'analfabeto' (illiterate) means completely unable to read or write. If he'd said something like 'practicamente analfabetos' (almost illiterate) it would have been closer to the truth.

[frank recktenwald]

Originally Posted by Chirimoya

Nitpicking here, but 'analfabeto' (illiterate) means completely unable to read or write. If he'd said something like 'practicamente analfabetos' (almost illiterate) it would have been closer to the truth.

Have to agree with you there!

[Fabio J. Guzman]

Many law schools should be closed down. The rest should begin to set standards of admission.

There's a bill in Congress which would establish bar exams after law school but it has been bogged down for years.

[Chirimoya]

Here's a summary of the report in English, courtesy of DR1 news:

Too many lawyers
The career of choice for most Dominican students is still law, and Listin Diario reports that the Supreme Court of Justice (SPJ) has admitted 22,033 new lawyers since 1997. Around 20,000 students are currently studying law and 35,920 lawyers are registered with the Dominican Lawyers Association. The newspaper adds that since January 2008, 2,404 new lawyers were sworn in by the SCJ. SCJ president Jorge Subero Isa is recommending that legal academic programs should be revised and updated because the National Judicial School can't make up for the deficiencies displayed by many of these new lawyers. National District DA Alejandro Moscoso says there is a bill in Congress that seeks to require all lawyers to do an eight-month internship as part of their studies. Of all universities the UASD has the most students studying law with 11,320.

Is it correct to say that passing your bachirellato automatically qualifies you to study law? No entrance exam, no minimum grades?

[Chip]

I know quite a few lawyers, one of which easily makes more than I do and it is just him and another partner in a small office.

Also, like someone else stated, there is a lack of something that these guys are learning other than they know how to milk people for everything they have. I personally know one who was the lawyer of a friends ex who explained the agreement that the goods/property of the divorce would be split down the middle and the fee would be 40k when in fact the actual fee would have been half of the value of all of the goods and property he had - on the order of RD6-7M. Since his ex was supposed to get half, you can guess how much my friend was to be left with - a big fat zilch. Funny thing is I was explaining this to a very young attorney at Las Aromas GC expecting to get a shocked reaction only for the guy to tell me "hey it depends on what fee lawyer negotiates as to how much he gets from a divorce" - give me a break!

[GringoCArlos]

And no matter how good or bad the lawyer is, they are very emphatic that "they are a professional" and get very indignant when confronted about mistakes or just plain stupidity. (just as a hooker with bad skills is a pro because after all, she's gettin' paid, right?)

On top of bad lawyers, there is the Dominican legal system. Even good lawyers in the DR complain about the ancient, bad laws, and most legislators are lawyers, but NOBODY does a damn thing about changing the laws in the DR. It's in the lawyers best interests to maintain a broken-down legal system based on outdated / bad legislature because it allows them to continue raping their clients /victims.

[J D Sauser]

Typical for most countries which don't have real trade schools. You either have no professional education at all (besides learning by failing) or "academic" professionals coming from universities.
Real, in depth trade schools and thus real trade professionals is one of the pillars missing to support a real economy.

... J-D.