Federalist No. 84 of Crime & Federalism says:
As a group, lawyers are the most arrogant subset of society. How many times have you heard someone say, "This is what we lawyers call a 'brief.'" And, "This book is written with the layman in mind." Imagine if your doctor said, "This is what we doctors call an 'aorta.'" Most lawyers are arrogant and annoying. [However, most blogger-lawyers are very congenial and interesting. Quite a divide.]
I’ve certainly met my share of arrogant lawyers. I’ve even suggested on this weblog that a modest lawyer is hard to find. It’s an overgeneralization, to be sure. But if asked what subset of society is most arrogant, wouldn’t most people answer “lawyers”?
What’s the reason for the bad reputation? It's probably because most don’t know a lot of lawyers personally. This would also explain why lawyer-bloggers seem to be the exception to the general rule: they’re lawyers who you can actually get to know, sort of.