Because it was made by the rich for the rich.
this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2023
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This point can't be understated. A main feature of a developed economy is a strong legal system, meant to handle business and property disputes. A strong legal system protects investments.
For example, Iran is a country with a ridiculous amount of natural resources, yet their primary exports are nuts and rugs. This is becuase they don't have a great legal system (and also they have the dubious honour of being the most sanctioned country in the world). Their government does what they want, when they want. If that means they jail you and seize all your assets on some made up grounds, then that's what happens. The legal systems in developed nations is designed to prevent this from happening. That's why it exists.
So what you're saying is ... legal systems are designed to protect the rich.
Yes but with arguments to back up my point so I don't just sound like an angry teenager on reddit.
Ah, somehow it came off like you were saying the general population was the intended recipient of such benefits
And thus the question becomes how we can craft a fairer legal system that isn't so pay-to-win, but still maintains the core principles of property rights that allows business to, ya know, happen. Sure we could do what many naïve people on the internet want and seize the means of production, but who on earth would want to start a productive business or make productive investments in a country where the government can just up and seize your assets without justification? Just as we need protection against businesses screwing us over, we also need protection against government screwing us over. Anyone who says we should just seize assets and nationalize industries willy nilly should ask themselves if they wanna risk some ghoul like Ron DeSantis being the one with the power to do that.
As to actual answers on how to make such a system that isn't pay-to-win but still maintains a stable system and rule of law, I don't actually know. I'm no expert in the legal system. But I'm sure there are experts out there who have spent a lot of time thinking about these sorts of questions and have ideas on how to improve/reform.
Sure we could do what many naïve people on the internet want and seize the means of production, but who on earth would want to start a productive business or make productive investments in a country where the government can just up and seize your assets without justification?
That's why you don't create a legal system where "the government can just up and seize your assets without justification". You create a system where it is clearly defined when it becomes acceptable to socialize a company, and what forms of organization and management it is going to take, and what compensation is the entrepreneur entitled to in exchange.
The right wing fears governments and the left wing fears corporations but really it's ALL metahuman entities that are suspect and should be regarded as predatory until they can show otherwise.
There are some good answers here, but I would also note that because the legal system is adversarial, continued investment can go a long way towards a desired outcome. If you can afford a parade of experts, huge amounts of gathered evidence, and contingency plans researched and prepared by dozens of lawyers and paralegals, you'll do better in court.
It's an arms race, so the "best" lawyers have spent the most on arms. That also means that even the worst lawyers have to invest a lot to keep up.
Absolutely right, but the added subtext is so that rich people win against poor people.
It's designed that way. It was on purpose.
In Germany, it works like this:
Everybody has to observe the laws, therefore it must be possible for everybody to go to court etc. It cannot be that you need to be rich first, before you can sue anybody.
So our first 'level' of courts do not require that you have a lawyer in civil cases. You do not need to write things in 'legalese' language (of course it makes things easier if you do), instead you can simply walk to court and say I need to sue that person for this and that. They would write it down and start proceedings.
Only court of appeals etc. require a lawyer. In criminal cases the court would provide a lawyer if required.
Lawyers cannot decide their rates freely, but need to adhere to a kind of tariff system. So, getting rich just because you are a lawyer is somewhat difficult :-)
Most of that is similar to my understanding of the US system, except the last bit. We do have public defenders (state appointed lawyers) that are provided if needed, and I think lawyers are required to do a certain number of cases as a public defender per year, or something similar (but it can be avoided somehow I can't remember). If you're picking your lawyer on your own, then rates can be literally anything.
Like any subject matter that is complex it requires someone to have specialized training to understand and navigate. We all have a working understanding of the legal system, but sometimes we need expert opinion. Few people are willing/able to master the subject matter so supply relative to demand is low.
The legal system is complex because our world is complex. We are constantly expanding human endeavors (Space law wasn't an issue until Sputnik) and changing current laws (Marijuana laws have changed in many states). It's not just a matter of learning the law once - it is constantly changing and requires an expert to be always up-to-date.
You're paying $.25 for the piece of paper and $199.75 for the lawyer's knowledge of how to file it.
In order to be cheaper we would need to flood the market with lawyers. But the number of lawyers is purposely controlled. Image if you regular people had access to lawyers. The chaos. Youd waste all the lawyers time complaining about illegal wage theft and union busting or excessive force. The system works much better when the law protects the people who earned it
Because when you need it, you really need it and can't be too picky about the price. You only have a limited window to shop around.
So the nash equilibrium is the prices are set dear, but not too high to be impossible to pay.
Kinda like hostage healthcare in the USA.
This way the law is the same everyone but only the rich can use it to their advantage.
Cuz fuck you MURICA, it's for the rich on purpose
lawyers maintain a high artificial barrier to entry. a lot of what they do doesn't involve any actual work beyond filling out and signing a microsoft word document template.
Overall the legal system isn't nearly as expensive as people think it is. Most cases can be dealt with for a few hundred dollars or less. Especially small court claims sometimes even prohibits the use of lawyers, so the only cost ist your time + getting a few documents.
But as the complexity of the case increases so does the price. And that's because you pay for a lot of time of people with specialized knowledge. But that's true for every profession.
These cases are what people usually talk about. These are the cases that get media attention. No one talks about the small court claims between Bob and John that took 30 minutes.