Should The Practice Of Law Be Deregulated?

ABA Journal: Trucking and telephones have been deregulated, so why not law practice?

The authors of a Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) op-ed are endorsing the idea. The problem isn’t too many lawyers, according to Clifford Winston and Robert Crandall of the Brookings Institution. The problem is the regulatory scheme that restricts legal education and the entities that can offer legal services.

“The reality is that many more people could offer various forms of legal services today at far lower prices if the American Bar Association (ABA) did not artificially restrict the number of lawyers through its accreditation of law schools—most states require individuals to graduate from such a school to take
their bar exam—and by inducing states to bar legal services by nonlawyer-owned entities,” the authors say. “It would be better to deregulate the provision of legal services. This would lower prices for clients and lead to more jobs.”