I don&#x27;t think the government and guild protections are fictions.  This article seems to be relevant:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;techcrunch.com&#x2F;2014&#x2F;03&#x2F;21&#x2F;lawyer-disrupt-thyself&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;techcrunch.com&#x2F;2014&#x2F;03&#x2F;21&#x2F;lawyer-disrupt-thyself&#x2F;</a><p>I don&#x27;t think they&#x27;re fictions insofar as lawyers (and laws) command a unique place in our society that other industry inputs don&#x27;t.  Insofar as lawyers have the ability and the incentive to prevent sweeping changes to their industry, the guild mentality seems very real to me.<p>I take your point though: smaller firms are very willing to make technology changes to find themselves new competitive advantages.  Here&#x27;s hoping smaller firms like yours (and mine) keep nipping away at those monstrous firms =D.  FWIW, I have not had positive experiences when dealing with them...