OFF THE CUFF: Do lawyers grow on bushes?

FINDING a competent lawyer is a  difficult task wherever you live, although, if you have the funds, you can head to one of the big firms with a “reputation”

They are tHe firms that  have picked the cream of the new crop of graduates from the most renowned law schools, to assist in their endeavours to attract clients with deep pockets or purses.

Those new entrants work long hours, on their way  to becoming as well heeled as the existing partners.
Expats   who have struggled through the immigration or titling processes have many tales to tell of delays and frustrations, and  of sometimes going through three or four lawyers before finally finding something close to satisfaction.
Now the undergrowth in Panama  has got denser with the entry into the already overcrowded legal   field, of 624 new lawyers . That is the number of new degree recipients  recently recognized by the National College of Lawyers. It raises the question of where are they going to go to get practical experience under  professional guidance.  The lawyers’ guild said that degrees were issued by 15 universities this year and the number of new lawyers has raised some concerns, even within the profession. 
College President José Alberto Álvarez said that since 2010, there have been 5,000 law degrees awarded. He raised concerns about the ease in which some universities have granted these titles. “If the education is not good, the administration of justice will suffer,” he said ….and so will the pockets of the consumer.