WASHINGTON, D.C. Oct. 31 (DPI) — The Wall Street Journal reported today that 30% fewer people are taking the LSAT admissions exam than four years ago, a sign law schools are attracting fewer applicants and the law is no longer seen as a surefire path to a high-paying career.

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2013/10/31/number-of-lsat-test-takers-is-down-45-since-2009/tab/comments/

Readers – including those reflexively hostile to lawyers as well as lawyers themselves — took the report as a largely positive development. Among the comments on wsj.com:

“Good, you can’t swing a dead cat in this country without hitting a lawyer….”

“Even after the latest shakeout, we still have at least twice as many lawyers as we need.”

“This is a good thing for attorneys.”

Meanwhile, one reader came to the defense of the profession amid largely hostile and snarky comments:

“I notice a lot of folks like to “hate” on attorneys. Some of those same folks, however, change their tune when they find they need one either because they feel they’ve been wronged or they have screwed up and now need help. Of course, we could settle our disputes by just shooting each other in the streets, which would negate the need for all of those “evil” attorneys.”