Today, jokes about lawyers outnumber jokes about used car salesmen and corrupt politicians combined. A number of forces have contributed to the increasingly tarnished image of the legal profession. I call these forces barriers. Law is about the resolution of conflict, and the resolution of conflict is about communication.
Barriers impede communication.
It is not surprising that the metaphor most frequently applied to litigation is that of battle. In the first category is the barrier of secrecy and deception. As military intelligence employs secrecy and deception to outmaneuver the enemy, secrecy and deception are major issues between parties. Often they are raised in the context of the adverse party. He is cheating on his income taxes.