How Many Lawyers Does it Take to Screw in a Light Bulb?

Longtime U of Wisconsin contracts prof Marc Galanter (left) will give a talk about his new book on lawyer jokes, Lowering the Bar: Lawyer Jokes and Legal Culture, at Vanderbilt University on February 21.  Galanter’s book uses jokes about lawyers to trace popular perceptions of the legal profession throughout the country’s history.  The talk is free and open to the public.  Rotten tomatoes are optional.  Here’s a sample story from the book:

An ancient, nearly blind old woman retained the local lawyer to draft her last will and testament, for which he charged her two hundred dollars.  As she rose to leave, she took the money out of her purse and handed it to him, enclosing a third hundred dollar bill by mistake.  Immediately the attorney realized he was faced with a crushing ethical question: Should he tell his partner?

[Frank Snyder]