Multiple choice

The existence of our state's inefficient and wasteful automobile accident liability system can be easily explained. As long as most of our legislators are lawyers, the system will never be reformed, because litigation creates more work for lawyers. Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument above?

  1. Most judges in the state are members of the legal profession as well.

  2. Few of the state's legislators are among the relatively small percentage of lawyers who handle automobile accident cases.

  3. Under the customary fee arrangement, a lawyer receives one-third of any monetary award made to a client.

  4. The state legislature allocates funds to pay for defense attorneys who represent indigent clients.

  5. Any reform legislation could be vetoed by the governor of the state, who is also an attorney.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

(2) The initial argument tries to provide an explanation for a certain situation: The lawyers in the legislatures refuse to reform the law because reform would reduce the income of lawyers. In other words, the initial argument suggests that the lawyers in the legislature act out of self-interest. The argument implicitly assumes that the lawyers in the legislature derive financial benefit from the existing laws. (2) attacks this hidden assumption of the argument.

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