Survey Finds Discontent in Legal Field : Trends: Of attorneys in statewide poll, 48% either regret or are unsure about their choice of profession.

Barely half of the lawyers who responded to a statewide survey say they chose the right profession.

Asked if they would choose to become lawyers again if they were picking a career, 52% said yes, 29% said no, and 19% were uncertain, the State Bar Journal reports in its current edition.

The bar’s president, Donald Fischbach, said he was not surprised.

“Most of us believe we’re doing a good job and benefiting society, but nobody likes us,” he said. “We have threats of malpractice. Other people tell us when and how we can do things. This all adds to a tremendous burden.”

“As California bar members view the future, the picture they see is far from rosy,” said Deborah Hensler, director of the RAND Corp.’s Institute for Civil Justice, which conducted the survey.

Nearly 2,700 of 5,000 randomly selected lawyers returned questionnaires in the survey conducted for the State Bar and the Commission on the Future of the Legal Profession. The bar said the margin of error was plus or minus 3%.

The lawyers’ mixed view of their career choices corresponded with doubts about their colleagues.

A large majority, 67%, said attorneys were compromising professionalism as a result of business and economic pressures. Only 15% disagreed.

Only 41% said the ethical standards of most lawyers were high, with 25% in disagreement and the rest undecided. Forty-three percent said lawyers’ fees were too high, with 28% disagreeing.

And with the current tally at 142,000, 63% of the respondents said there were too many lawyers in California.

Most of those surveyed had an equally gloomy view of the future. Sixty-four percent said lawyers’ collegiality and civility would decline, and 78% said law practice would become more stressful. A prediction that lawyers would engage in less public service was endorsed by 43% and rejected by 26%, with the rest undecided.

Lawyer advertising got generally bad reviews. Only 27% thought ads had made it easier for average citizens to find lawyers. Of those responding, 39% said they worked up to 40 hours a week practicing law, 43% said they worked between 41 and 55 hours, and the rest said they worked longer.

Forty percent said they made less than $25,000 a year, 42% said they made between $25,000 and $74,999, and only 18% said they made more.