Flying Lawyer
I don't know the precise figures for the entire UK, but there are about 128,000 solicitors and about 15,000 barristers in practice in England & Wales. Tarring the entire legal profession with the same brush is as silly as tarring any other profession with the same brush.
Of course you are correct and my apologies to those lawyers/barristers who are decent and honest. What I perhaps should have said was:
certain ambulance-chasing, bleeding-heart, liberal
parts of the legal "profession"?
However, just like "squaddies go on drunken rampage" headline tars the whole military in the publics mind, don't be surprised when the actions of a not so small, and increasing number of irresponsible, politically motivated and ambulance chasing section of the legal "profession" tars you all with the same brush. My local radio station, regrettably, runs regular adverts for ia number if law firms for services to help illegal immigrants "beat" deportation, to help drunk drivers get off their conviction and to claim for injuries at work. The massive growth in the compo-4-you industry suggests that it is not such a small part of the profession. But sorry for the slur on all of you, my comments were aimed at a section of the profession.