A nice explanation of why lawyers are so expensive in this article: http://www.quora.com/Why-are-lawyers-so-expensive-even-with-the-excess-supply-of-lawyers.
It lists several reasons, including:
- “Sticky” wages
- “Sticky” billing rates
- Limited discounting
- Obsession with prestige and rankings
- Money is viewed as a proxy for prestige
- Associate salaries are not an efficient, free market
- The dot-com boom changed everything
- Law firm overhead consists mostly of compensation
- At large law firms, salaries and billing rates are the same across departments
- In placement, law schools and students focus on the large, top-tier firms to the exclusion of most other opportunities
- The middle is missing