You hear right wing conservative blowhards all the time bashing so called "trial lawyers" like John Edwards simply because people like Mr. Edwards have the "audacity" to ensure that people who are permanently injured by grossly negligent hospital screwups or children killed by knowingly defective products somehow see their causes taken to a jury to help prevent future catastrophes to other people.
Unlike right wing conservatives, I believe most trial lawyers are good. (Ironically, so do they when they need one.) Unlike most corporate lawyers (who often do bad) trial lawyers generally represent causes that make the world a better place. (I will briefly mention that for every trial lawyer representing a good cause, there's a trial lawyer defending a bad cause but these aren't the people conservatives are bashing.)
What do trial lawyers often do?
Trial lawyers represent people who have been permanently injured by incompetent medical personnel or hospital administrators looking to cut costs to save a buck here and there. By bringing the bad doctors and bad administrators to justice, trial lawyers save lives. Hopefully, they prevent other doctors and administrators from screwing up in the future.
Trial lawyers represent victims of rape. Is justice for a rape victim a good thing? I think so.
Trial lawyers represent victims of people seriously injured by knowingly defective products such as a defective drain in a swimming pool that killed a five year old girl. Is preventing a company from killing other children by punishing them in court a good thing? I think so.
Trial lawyers represent victims of racial and sexual discrimination. Is bringing bigots to justice a good thing? I think so.
Trial lawyers represent people who are falsely arrested or falsely imprisoned by individuals who use their power to make up lies about an innocent person. Is holding a person accountable for depriving a person of her liberty a good thing? I think so.
Trial lawyers represent people who insurance companies refuse to reimburse despite what the insurance policy says. This could be the difference between a person keeping her home and losing her home. Is holding an insurance company accountable for a contract to ensure that a person keeps her home a good thing? I think so.
Trial lawyers represent victims of environmental hazards like asbestos. Is it a good thing to hold a person financially accountable for intentionally or negligently hurting a person's health? I think so.
Trial lawyers also help keep consumers safe by holding corporations and manufacturers accountable for dangerous and defective products. Do we want to live in a world where someone has the "freedom" to harm others? I don't think so. (Sadly, economic right wing conservatives seem to define freedom from this warped perspective.)
Approximately 96% of all cases NEVER GO TO TRIAL. (I know this as a law student. The media won't tell you this.) Many get settled, the one's lacking merit usually get dismissed, and unfortunately many cases with merit also get dismissed because our system is tilted toward protecting the wrongdoer over the wronged.
Are there bad lawyers? Of course and many of them end up as corporate lawyers, collection lawyers, or assistant prosecutors before getting canned for overzealousness. Are some lawyers really bad people? Well I go to law school and although I like most people, there are lots of horrible human beings roaming the halls. Are there cases in which a person sues and the case is ridiculous? Of course and we have sanctions built in the system to address frivlous lawsuits.
But the conservatives attempt to demonize a very small group of trial lawyers for two reasons: selfishness and money.
Who are the people in society who generally tend to engage in the abhorrent behavior eluded to? Yep, conservatives. And that's why they hate trial lawyers.