Yes, they do it for their own gain, but like social antibodies, they also protect the body politic against the disease of dictatorship. The insurance industry has over Three Trillion dollars in our economy. If you think that doesn't have influence from the halls of congress to editorial offices, you still wait under the chimney for Santa. It's a wonderful sweetheart deal. A good insurer can save our lives and our fortunes, but a bad one can destroy both.
Lawyers are a cost of democracy.
Yes, they are expensive. Yes, there are crooked or incompetent ones, just as there are crooked judges, incompetent doctors, and shady accountants. But then there was Abe Lincoln, who got his start as a lawyer. Yes, at times they are a pain in the butt. But they can save ours.