Version

Being a law student, I inevitably, and actually quite frequently, get into conversations with what we snobby law people call "laypersons" about things like: Is there justice in the world? Is there justice in the court room? And if not, what the f*** do we pay you lawyers so much money for?

The short answers is: Of course there is justice. Lawyers get paid to win. The winning side feels justice has been done. Everyone who disagrees can just suck it. (Or pay lawyers more money to appeal.) Ta-da!

But, most people don't tend to disagree because, if you do, it means that the law is arbitrary and fucked up and there is no justice and you're not protected by the system and chaos will ensue. Who wants chaos? Nobody. So, you see, justice is the only sensible conclusion.

Over time, I have learned that this is not the answer most people want to hear, at least not this particular version. So I have plagiarized from multiple sources and come up with a more PC version:

Whether or not there is justice in law, at least when it comes to actual trials, depends on how you feel about the jury system. Why? This is what my "psychology of persuasion" author says (he is an idiot, but every idiot has his moments of clarity): In a trial, there are essentially three versions of reality - your side's reality, the other side's reality, and the jury's reality. The jury's reality is the only one that matters. Your fate dangles in the sweaty palms of 12 (and sometimes just 6) strangers.

Most people think the jury system is a fantastic thing, for one simple reason: it was put into the constitution by our founding fathers. What is often glossed over in this train of reasoning is that our founding fathers were 1) human, 2) male, and 3) puritans from the 18th century. What this really means is that they were 1) fallible, 2) chauvinists, and 3) just plain crazy. Consider the only conceivable formula employed in arriving at this jury idea:

12 strangers + all of their loves, hates, biases, ego, emotions, gullibility, stubbornness, etc. + 5 minutes of on-the-spot legal education + stuck in one room for hours, days, weeks on end + some sort of official verdict is the only way they can get out of that room = JUSTICE.

I'm just sayin'.