Jurisprudence is one of the oldest social sciences. The first lawyers and prosecutors appeared back in Ancient Greece and Rome. And it was they who came up with interpreting laws in order to best apply them in judicial practice.
The evolution of our domestic legal system was slow. The first written laws of Rus that have reached us were issued in the 11th century, in France - in the 6th. Moreover, quite often Russian laws were based on Western models. Already in the 15th century, influential associations of lawyers and judges had formed in many Western countries, while here the first professionals appeared only in the second half of the 18th century, and the training of legal personnel was organized with a 200-year lag behind Western countries. Peter I adopted a number of laws drafted on the European model. By the way, it was during Peter's time that the expression "the law is like a shaft: wherever you turn it, that's where it goes" came into being. And the tsar mercilessly flogged dishonest and greedy jurists. Interestingly, most court cases in pre-revolutionary Russia were land and property disputes. However, "intellectual theft" - book theft - also occurred. Books were chained to library cabinets or shelves, but it didn't help: clever people tore out half a book, for which they were prosecuted. In villages and hamlets, property disputes were settled without any lawyers - they simply beat each other up if anything happened.
In enlightened Europe, however, people went to court. And then legal experts got to work, demonstrating wonders of resourcefulness. An example is the story of the famous medieval lawyer Bartholomew de Chassanée and the rats that were to be jailed for the harm they caused. "Vile gray animals living in burrows" were already served a summons - one for all. The rodents did not object, but Bartholomew came up with a brilliant move: he demanded that each rat be served individually. The trial did not take place. Others were less fortunate: in 1740, a French cow that killed a man was sent to the scaffold.
Generally, the world history of law knows many oddities. For example, a law of 1460 ordered Venetian women "to be kind, affectionate, and eat more in order to acquire voluptuous figures that inflame male lust," in order to stop the spread of homosexuality.
A Jack of All Trades...
If not for lawyers, it is quite possible that George W. Bush would now be raising cattle on his ranch in Texas. This is how it happened: as a presidential candidate, Bush Jr. was on a campaign tour across the country. Speaking at a rally in the Chicago suburbs, the Texas governor spotted New York Times reporter Adam Clymer in the crowd - his main critic. Bush did not hesitate to share his impressions of the journalist with his running mate and whispered in his ear that the reporter was a real ass. However, the private conversation became public: the microphones on the podium were on. The lawyers had to deal with the consequences - they argued left and right that every person has the right to private conversations. And they proved it.
Legal mastery comes with experience. To develop "knowledge of human nature," future lawyers are made to analyze both the actions of literary heroes and the behavior of very real criminals. To overcome the fear of the public, some teachers advise going to football matches or rallies and simply shouting, and to develop oratorical skills in lecture debates.
A lawyer must be an analyst, a critic, a writer, an orator - it is no wonder that many law students take public speaking courses. A lawyer is also an actor, a diplomat, and a fighter. And, of course, a smart person. It is also difficult to overestimate the responsibility of a lawyer. An investigator decides on detention, a prosecutor approves the indictment and files a lawsuit in the interests of the state. A wrong piece of advice can cause huge damage to a company and no less damage to the lawyer's own reputation.
Now for the pleasant part. The profession is creative. Interpreting the law presupposes individuality. The better a lawyer thinks, the more he knows, the bolder and more persistent he is, the more accurate his decisions will be and the higher his reputation. It is no coincidence that over the years every legal expert develops their own work style.
Dig!
Only in the movies do lawyers brilliantly perform in court and castigate prosecutors; in reality, the work of a legal expert is working with papers, phones, and people. The daily occupation of a lawyer, investigator, or prosecutor is digging through assumptions, guesses, and facts.
As Kariera notes, dividing up corporate property in our country became a trend in the late 1990s. But Europe and America are not surprised by such conflicts. In Italy and France, fashion houses often quarrel; computer giants Sun Microsystems, Oracle, Nokia, Kodak, Fujitsu, and Yahoo! frequently file a joint lawsuit against Microsoft, accusing it of monopolizing the market. Experts believe that such lawsuits are the result of poor work by lawyers. If every step of a company were accompanied by the advice of legal experts, such proceedings simply would not arise.