Both the N.C. House and Senate have a large body of legislators working in the field of law when not in session. Other professions heavily represented in the General Assembly include former educators, businessmen, doctors and retired professionals.
Sen. Bill Martin, D-Guilford, said lawyers are crucial to the legislative process because legislators with different occupations do not understand the formal aspects of drafting bills and enacting laws.
"It's important to have folks in the General Assembly that understand basic principles of law and the terms of how we enact them -- even though we do have a legal staff to assist us," he said.
But Martin, an attorney, said legal expertise is the only benefit of having lawyers in the legislature. "I would never say lawyers have a sense of what North Carolina needs," he said.
Sen. Bob Shaw, R-Guilford, a restaurant owner, said he is willing to make fun of lawyers and the negative stigma attached to them but would never choose to remove them from the legislature.
"I think some lawyers are necessary in the General Assembly," he said. "It would be a disaster without them."
Shaw added that he thinks there should be a balanced mix of professions represented in the legislature.
Some critics suggest there is a conflict of interest because these lawyers create the legislation that they defend in the court system.
But George Butterfield, N.C. Supreme Court associate justice, said he has never experienced a problem regarding lawyers who serve as legislators.
