Government
Jan. 3, 2024
21 lawyers in Legislature this year, down 5 from 2021
Voters elected a huge new class of lawmakers in 2012 under a new term limits law; those same lawmakers have been moving on as their 12-year limits loom. But many of those seats are being filled by non-lawyers.
State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, in 2016. (The New York Times)
Sen. Scott Wiener repeated a familiar refrain when he spoke to the Consumer Attorneys of California in November.
“As someone who spent many years practicing law, I’m very, very aware that when we look at the California Legislature, which used to be dominated by lawyers, it’s not anymore,” said Wiener,, D-San Francisco, when accepting the CAOC’s Legislator of the Year award for 2023. “There are fewer and fewer lawyers. And there are extreme...