Deregulating the Legal Profession and the Berlin Wall

Today in the News

Deregulating the Legal Profession

In The Wall Street Journal this week, Brookings Institute scholars recommend deregulating the legal profession.

Senior Counsel Hans Bader notes that deregulation would lower legal costs.

“Legislatures also need to simplify court procedures that make it impossible for ordinary people to seek redress in cases that aren’t big enough to afford hiring a lawyer, leaving cheated people with little redress when they are ripped off to the tune of $5,000 to $15,000. People can represent themselves in small-claims courts, which have simplified procedures, but in many states, such courts can hear only the tiniest legal claims, like those seeking less than $5,000.”

 

Berlin Wall

In an August 12 Los Angeles Times opinion piece, Jacob Heilbrunn says the Berlin Wall was a “blessing in disguise.”

Research Associate Luke Pelican responds.

“I am appalled by Heilbrunn’s characterization of the Berlin Wall as a ‘blessing in disguise.’ I wonder if the estimated 169 (and very likely many more) East Germans killed while trying to flee their prison of a country would agree.”