The Utafiyah Court has been registering at least 40 new lawyers a week in recent months, unemployed lawyer Iyad al-Jomaa said he was told by a court delegate. Jomaa told Al-Monitor that because there are so many lawyers, some of them are settling for a pittance not more than 25,000 dinars ($21.15) per case for their services.
Former head of the Iraqi Lawyer Union Diaa al-Saadi cited this lack of negotiating power in his critique of the draft of the new Iraqi Bar Act. Also, he noted lawyers often face criticism and sometimes threats from all sides — law enforcement officials, judges and even clients — and are powerless to remedy the situation as they can't afford to offend anyone.
Majed Najm Abdullah, from the directorate of the bar association chamber in Najaf, said there are now 4,000 chamber lawyers, which is a large number for a province with a population of not quite 1.5 million people. The chamber has become one of the largest in Iraq.
Lawyer Mohammed Mazloum of Najaj said he has been working in law for six years and still struggles to find enough clients to support himself. The large number of senior lawyers with extensive experience and knowledge in many courts leaves little left over for the thousands of young lawyers.
According to Mazloum, some retired state employees have even obtained law degrees from unaccredited private universities and are practicing law despite their old age, which increases the competition even more.
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