Law in Popular Culture

Dealing with lawyer jokes? 'Restatement of Retorts' provides the rejoinder

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Comebacks for Lawyer Jokes

Lawyer-turned-humor consultant Malcolm Kushner has a suggestion for lawyers dealing with lawyer jokes: Be ready with your own punchline.

In his book Comebacks for Lawyer Jokes: The Restatement of Retorts, Kushner supplies the comebacks, Above the Law reports.

Take this lawyer joke, for example: “What’s the difference between a lawyer and a leech?” The usual punchline is, “After you die, a leech stops sucking your blood.”

Kushner suggests supplying this punchline instead: “No one wants a lawyer who sucks.”

Another section of Kushner’s book has jokes about other professions, designed to stop lawyer-joke-telling professionals with jokes aimed at them. There is this joke, for example: “Why are jokes about lawyers always one liners?” The answer: “So doctors can understand them.”

Kushner also includes jokes aimed at helping lawyers look good. An example: “Why do public interest lawyers like the band U2?” The answer: “They’re pro bono.”

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