| Lawyer
Jokes — Are We Really That Funny?
By Dan Murdock, OBA General Counsel
I have a close friend who is not especially fond of
lawyers in general. She and another friend who lives in Arizona are
always sending me cartoons of lawyer jokes. Neither does this out
of ill will, but only to tease me about my profession. At least I
like to believe that is the reason.
If you watch late night television, lawyers are a constant
source of purported humor. There are books containing only lawyer
jokes. The Internet provides an unlimited number of jokes about lawyers.
Lawyer jokes have been around for a long while. One in particular
dates back to Plato in 321 B.C.
We all hear lawyer jokes all the time. I don’t
think very many are that funny, but I tolerate the jokes and the
people who tell them for many different reasons. Many times I have
wondered, “Are we really that funny?” and I began to
think about the reasons that people tell lawyer jokes and seem to
enjoy them so much.
My first thought was that of my friends. People genuinely
like us and want to tease us. Perhaps they have had good experiences
with lawyers, have relatives who are lawyers, or knew us before we
became lawyers. Then again, it may be that they don’t like
us and the jokes are just an expression of anger or frustration.
Perhaps it is that they don’t understand us. Some may have
heard and believe the myths that are told about lawyers and certain
cases where the outcome is questioned in the media. Some have even
said that it is because people are envious of our accomplishments,
our authority, our knowledge and our perceived power.
The public perception can easily be influenced by factors
far beyond our control. Movies and television often portray lawyers
in less than favorable ways. That thought then caused me to consider
a factor I never wanted to consider. Can we control or influence
that perception? Do we deserve the jokes that are being told?
Political campaigns have attacked lawyers in general
and trial lawyers in particular. Campaigns have been conducted based
on the assertion that a candidate is not a lawyer. People have talked
about too many lawyers in the Legislature, although of the 149 members
of the 2006 Oklahoma Legislature, only 31 are lawyers.
We, as members of the legal profession, need to be
concerned with public opinion and how our acts influence that opinion.
What are we doing to shape public perception? Maybe we should forget
the “we” and
think, “What am ‘I’ doing?” |
