Come, indulge me in this thought experiment on the societal chaos (or order) in a lawyer-free world. Is the world a better place without lawyers?

I mean, I can see the upsides – fewer billable hours, less fine print (who reads fine print anyway?), and definitely no one arguing over a misplaced comma in a contract.

So what if the entire legal profession got wiped out overnight? Let’s say aliens invaded planet earth and zapped all lawyers away…would society be more peaceful… or would it fall apart?

No Lawyers, No Rules?

I think at first, it might seem like freedom. No more lawsuits. No more scary letters. No one reminding you that you can’t turn your ground floor into a café without checking zoning rules…or start blasting karaoke at midnight to test your neighbors’ patience. But after a week of that kind of “freedom”, I can imagine things starting to get real messy.

Disputes don’t disappear just because lawyers do. If anything, they escalate. That argument over land ownership? With no legal title system or dispute resolution mechanism, it might just turn into a shouting match or escalate into something a lot more unsavory.

That unfair firing at work? Without labor lawyers or employment laws, you’d have no recourse. No one to advocate, no one to hold the powerful accountable – no David to the Goliaths of this world.

The Collapse of Contracts

Without lawyers, contracts become… suggestions. Who’s going to draft them? Who enforces them? A handshake might feel noble until the deal breaks down and no one knows what was agreed to. We all know too well that businesses can’t run on “vibes” alone. Investors pull out, partners fall out and agreements turn into arguments.

Lawyers aren’t just deal-blockers, we’re also deal-makers. We create the structure that allows people to trust each other enough to take risks. No contracts, no commerce.

Justice by Who, Exactly?

Then there’s the justice system. Without defense lawyers, prosecutors, judges, and legal advocates, who decides guilt or innocence? Trial by TikTok? Mob justice? Isn’t netizen fury just the most vicious of all? I think we’ve seen enough history and dystopian fiction to know that doesn’t end too well.

Legal systems exist for a reason: to ensure fairness, due process, and a balance of power. Without lawyers, the people who shout the loudest or swing the biggest stick win. That’s not justice. That’s cancel culture and pure chaos.

So Why Do Lawyers Sometimes Get a Bad Rap?

Probably because when we’re doing our job well, things are running so smoothly that no one notices. We prevent disasters before they happen. We write the clause that protects your investment. We negotiate the terms that keep your company out of court. We’re invisible… until things go wrong.

Turns out, the world without lawyers isn’t a dream. It’s a disaster waiting to happen.

A world without lawyers wouldn’t be utopia, it would be uncertain, unfair, and, frankly, a bit scary. Lawyers aren’t perfect (we know), but society needs us to function.

So next time someone says, “Lawyers just complicate things,” I say: we do—but only because life is already complicated. We just try to make sure there’s some order in the chaos.

Sincerely,

Stephen Le, Lead Litigator