Should lawyers learn to code? Arguments for and against
I&#x27;m not saying that lawyers shouldn&#x27;t learn to code, but I don&#x27;t think it would be wise of them to heavily rely on it in practice.<p>1.  They have a specialized skill set, and they can offload a lot of this to other people in the firm.  Billing someone several hundred dollars an hour so that you can spend time fiddling with SQL is kinda unethical.  This could be considered gray, but it&#x27;s akin to charging someone the full billing rate to use a copier.  Maybe this will ultimately end up billing less and saving the client money, but then maybe not.  It all depends on the person.<p>2.  The more important reason in my opinion is that programming is a specialized skill.  You have to learn and really understand how it all works.  It&#x27;s easy to say &quot;Well, just learn some Bash, and SQL&quot; and you&#x27;ll totally be able to get information faster.  The question of whether or not it runs is an easy one to answer.  Did it return information, yes or no?  The real question and where it is tricky, is was it actually correct?  Did you search all the files, etc.?  Hiring a professional developer to aggregate information and have the knowledge to understand edge cases is why developers make the money they do.<p>Think about the flip side.  Should all programmers become lawyers, because after you are one it&#x27;s easier to understand the legal system.  No, that&#x27;s silly.  Should programmers learn something about law?  Of course, everyone should, but that doesn&#x27;t mean that everyone should practice it.  Now you could be saying, &quot;Well, but going to law school takes years. That&#x27;s a ridiculous statement to begin with.&quot;  How long do you think it takes to be a really competent programmer?