Gerry Spence to trial lawyers: “We are the most important people in America”

The Wyoming-based legal gunslinger spoke at the annual conference of the Consumer Attorneys of California, and (U.S. Chamber-backed) Legal NewsLine took down some audience-rousing quotes that went pretty far even by grandiose Spence standards: “We are the most important people in America… I want to ask you which would be more important: If all of the doctors in the country somehow disappeared or all the trial lawyers in America somehow disappeared?” he asked. “We can live without medical care, but we cannot live without justice.” (Chris Rizo, “Spence: Trial lawyers more important than doctors”, Nov. 12).

More from Dan Pero: “Was it just bad timing or some sort of cosmic justice that Mr. Spence made this preposterous claim on Veterans Day?”

13 Comments

  • Ah, yes. Law is justice. Another of those synonyms.

    Bob

  • Shouldn’t this be linked to the “Narcissists” Thread?

  • Many of the end stage narcissists and/or sociopaths in that room actually believed Spence.

  • Lionel Hutz (The Simpsons’ lawyer) chimes in at YouTube:

  • silly lawyers dont you know your supposed to compare yourself to jesus not doctors =p

  • i guess i have this tendency to want to give people the benefit of the doubt and not just think this guys head is about a millions pounds and needs a little deflation, that’s obviously what his words make it sound like. I have heard that a large percentage of the nations president have been lawyers and we all know Obama was a lawyer. The liberal illuminati for sure have a lot of lawyers that work for them.

    But with that said and trying to give this bone head the benefit of the doubt he goes on to say we need lawyers more than we need doctors. he has blown it! He’s doesn’t have a clue!

  • Perhaps this comment is overly obvious, but the next time Mr. Spence has a broken leg, he could check in with William Lerach to have it set.

  • “We have to redefine who we are: We are the most important people in America,” Spence said. “There is no other profession in America that fights for freedom, that fights for what America is about, that fights for justice for ordinary people.”

    Why yes there is and it are called the US Military. They even have a few lawyers amongst their ranks, very few blessedly. It appears that when push comes to shove not very many lawyers are needed to fight for freedom, for what America is about, for justice for ordinary people … all around the world.

  • Our country without lawyers? Much closer to heaven I propose.

  • I love Gerry Spence, but do not view everything he says as gosple. Perhaps, he was just trying to build up their morale.

  • Our country without lawyers? Much closer to heaven I propose.

    Mr. Vice President? Is that you?

  • Die Rolle der Ärzte im Staatsgebilde…

    ist untergeordnet gegenüber der Arbeit von (…) Strafverteidigern. Das sagte neulich, nein, natürlich, kein Arzt, sondern ein Jurist.
    Scheint ein internationales Phänomen zu sein.

    "We can live without medical care, but we canno…

  • As if our legal system doles out justice.

    Well, it tries, imperfectly. But this kind of hyperbole is stomach-turning. And in my opinion, just wrong. And I’m a lawyer.

    I echo the comments of #8 … we owe our freedoms more to our veterans than anyone else.