No one can seem to agree on just who was the first one. Considering their colorful reputation, you'd think that the first one would've been well documented. They're not viewed as being honest, as far as the public is concerned. You would think that someone whose job includes helping the public, would be seen in a much more positive light. But this is the life of an attorney. Especially those attorneys that argue cases in court. Why does the public have such a hate-hate relationship with attorneys?

An attorney, in the most basic form, is someone who has been legally appointed to act on another persons behalf. For whatever reason, attorneys don't get the respect they deserve. People have the right to defend themselves in court, but if they can't afford an attorney, the court will provide them one. Why is this? Why would the court spend the money to give you an attorney? Because they know the average or even above average person has no clue on how the law and the court system works. Watching court-TV is fine, but it won't give you the skill to defend yourself in court.

Many people think after seeing a few TV shows, that they could actually defend themselves better than a professional, but if you sat them down in front of some law books, they would probably get a migraine. They may be able to read the words, but I doubt if they could interpret them, and that's what attorneys do, they interpret the law. If the public wants to be mad, they should be mad at the people who write the law. If the law was written in a language we could all understand, then things would be much simpler.

Most people, if asked, would say they don't like attorneys because they defend criminals. First of all, it's up to the state, that prosecutes the criminals, to prove that the person they arrested, did commit the crime. No one wants an innocent person going to jail. If the state doesn't prove its case, then the person should be free; that's the law. Don't blame the suspect or his attorney because the state didn't do its job. Another misunderstanding that the public seems to have is that most criminals don't go to jail. In fact, criminals do go to jail, that's why the prisons are overcrowded. On TV it appears that all suspects that are arrested go to trial. But in the real world, if a criminal is caught and there's more than enough evidence to put them away, they'll usually take a plea bargain instead of going to trial.

The public should realize that attorneys exist to make sure your rights are not violated. The attorney is there to even the playing field. An attorney is your safeguard against those people out in the world who are ready to take advantage of you if given the chance, including the court system. A lot of people look at an attorney as the enemy, until they need one.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Attorneys