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Comment by philipov | Hacker News Reader

This is why economic inequality is a problem. Although it's often brought up that the economy is not a zero-sum game, and it's possible for everyone to get richer together despite rising inequality, this view doesn't recognize that money brings power, and power is a zero-sum game.

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It used to be a lot easier to get a law degree. California is currently the only state that will let you sit for the bar without a JD. You have to have equivalent work experience but you can still as a completely private citizen get yourself into practice.

Industrial gatekeeping is a real problem. One of the indirect mechanisms is the accumulated complexity of the law and the seeming inability for legislatures to remove outdated and fruitless laws from their books. Unsurprisingly the people most capable of achieving this are not interested in doing it.

Small correction, but there are actually four states (CA being one of them) where you can avoid law school by what is called “reading the law”. It entails more or less doing an apprenticeship with a practicing attorney or judge and meeting certain requirements.

And the pass rate is abysmal (~20% vs ~60% in VA) vs law school. It’s barely a viable path to practicing law.

The bar needs to be broken out into separate tests that credential different aspects of practicing law. There's no reason a criminal attorney needs expertise on securities law unless they practice in that field.

Do any other nations do that? Much of the UK splits barristers (trial law) and solicitors (non-trial law) but I’m pretty sure that’s a historical relic not a designed split to make each easier to learn and practice.

I think people just interacted with the legal system far less in the past and there was less specialization.

So why do you believe the ‘splitting’ would be viable in the US? Is there some argument for why it’s more likely than not?

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