http://www.google.com/trends?q=bankruptcy+attorney%2C+bankruptcy+lawyer&ctab=0&geo=us&geor=all&date=all&sort=0

Partially this has to do with the difference between the two. There is a subtle one (note, I was testing only US trends). Typically an Attorney is somebody legally empowered to represent another person, or act on their behalf in court. A Lawyer is somebody who can give legal advice and has been trained in the law. In the US the terms are generally synonomyous, however, our test shows maybe they aren’t since one trends far higher (and searches for attorney are more as well).

In Canada, the titles do have a bit more nuance. You typically don’t hear about attorneys unless you’re giving the ‘power of attorney’. Lawyers are referred to anybody who has only refers to individuals who have been called to the bar.

I looked a bit closer into the phenomenon and noted some trends, take what you wish from the data.

When I search the trends of ‘law school’ vs. ‘marijuana’ law school actually wins in terms of mention frequency. Surprising since only a handful attempt to get into law school whereas I would surmise more than a handful smoke pot.

That’s the trend for most of the USA, however, cities like Sacramento either need more lawyers, or have too many stoners because they have greater frequency for ‘marijuana’ than ‘law school’.

Now make a note, this is frequency trend, meaning any mention of ‘law school’ from law schools to search for schools outweighs the same mentions in Google for ‘marijuana’. Still, a bit surprising to say the least, unless Google is somehow filtering results.

So maybe it’s more popular to go to law school than smoke pot….. or some other zany association I haven’t thought of.

The difference between BP’s lastest disaster versus others is the coverage. The media circus won’t let BP escape, at least in the short term, from ponying up some cash. You can expect that with the pressure coming from all the SE states BP will be paying up a lot more and a lot sooner than the average oil disaster.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t years of litigation to be had. Do you think anybody will be held accountable, criminally, for the spill? Doubt it, but some team of lawyers is having a hayday and will for decades to come.

Anonymous Law Student has emerged from the wreckage and we’re going to come back with new posts from law students from around the town. Stay tuned for details, and heck, if you like to blog and want an outlet then let us know you’re interested and you can write here and make some cash!