The earliest people that would be described, as lawyers, were the orators of ancient Athens. Even in this time, law was a complicated process. Law, required individuals, to plead their own cases without the help of an outside source, but this law was soon bypassed by the increasing need of people to ask a friend for assistance. Later on there was an Athenian rule (law) that no one could accept a free to plead the case of another, but this rule (law) became hard to enforce and in most cases was ignored. In Ancient Rome this same law was abolished, but the fee on could charge to represent another was limited. In early Rome, they trained more in rhetoric, instead of law. The judges in this time were also not law trained. Romans were the first class of people though, who spent their days thinking and studying about legal problems. The people who did this were called juriconsults. In the middle Ages men became experts in what is called canon law, but only to further their occupational goals. Canon law is the body of codified laws governing the affairs of a Christian church, (websters, 2010). From 1190 – 1230, men began to practice this canon law as a profession. In 1231, two French councils mandated that lawyers had to swear an oath of admission before they could practice law as a profession. The civil courts in England also took this oath of admission into their law practice and in 1275, lawyers were punishable if found guilty for acts of deceit. In England in the 1200’s, lawyers were called barristers and solicitors. A barrister is a lawyer who represents litigants as their advocate before the courts. A solicitor was a person who would engage in preparing work and advice, drafting and reviewing legal documents, and preparing evidence. It was not until 1791, when the bill of rights was drafted, people in the United States were guaranteed legal representation by the 6th amendment, (lawyers, 2010). So what is a lawyer? According to Webster’s dictionary, a lawyer is a person authorized to practice law, conduct lawsuits, or give legal advice. Our culture definitely has hostility against lawyers. Public distrust of lawyers reached a record high in America after the Watergate scandal. After the Watergate scandal, there were many books published for people who wished to solve their legal problems without having to deal with lawyers. In California, lawyer legislators have made it necessary to limit professional malpractice actions against lawyers to one year from the date of the discovery. This serves lawyers very well because it reduces the cost of their malpractice insurance and cuts down the number of frivolous lawsuits by unsatisfied clients. There are many corrupt lawyers in our world. Many of us have encountered corrupt lawyers. Lawyers who sold our cases out to the opposing side, some for money, some for recognition. Lawyers frequently take bribes or make deals to keep from going to court, where the full truth of the misconduct committed against you the client will come out. Lawyers only serve themselves.