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Comment by debacle | Hacker News Reader

This is a good thing. I would make a rough estimate that 5-8% of the programmers that I know have their law degree. Most didn't even bother taking the bar because it didn't make sense. The "non-partner" track for attorneys is kind of a non-starter for anyone who wants to make more than minimum wage when you factor in the 70 hour work weeks.

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0% of the programmers I know have one. Where do you live?

Total guess and not the original poster but I'm guessing NY

New York, but about half of them are not in this state.

I have a law degree, and I live in Los Angeles. I still don't think it's too common though - I haven't met anyone else.

No kidding... It seems to me, outside of a small handful, most lawyers outside of politics aren't going to be raking it in without becoming partners... Paralegals are also cheaper still than new lawyers and can do most of the work.

Not to mention my issues with the legal system becoming to convoluted for anyone... We start with a fairly simple guideline (constitution) and a common-law basis for a legal system beyond that, and it turns into the crap we have today... no bill going through congress should be thousands of pages.

Being a partner at a big city law firm is pretty much where the big money is made. And there's doubtless an OK living to be made as a partner at successful smaller practices. But it's become a tough business.

I would not call common law simple. It is the precedent of all of the prior decisions made by the courts.

But at its' core, it is the process of logic to determine an appropriate answer. Affected by past insights. There may be a lot, or a little precedent for the parts of a given case, but just the same, it should follow a logical outcome.

Where things really get wonky is applying those precedents in the context of the legal wrangling that has been enacted into law since said rulings. Combined with some practices it can be made more straight forward, or much less so.

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