In 1623, William Shakespeare first published his work of Henry VI. Now nearly four hundred years later, his most famous line was not the intention of his dialogue. In fact, it was a tribute to the legal profession. In simple language, it meant that lawyers were the guardians of the rule of law who stand in the way of a fanatical mob.

In the ensuing four hundred years, this line was taken out of context and has been the rallying cry of anti-legal pundits. On surface, most would agree that there are too many lawyers on this earth. And, it may seem that way, but you could be wrong. According to the new age bible (Google), there may be a shortage of these guardians of justice.

Statistically, and fact checked at three different sources, the word of Google shows over one million lawyers in practice in the US. With a population of approximately three hundred and thirty five million people, that’s one lawyer for every 258 people. Up here in Canada, with a population of approximately 38.25 million, we have 136,000 lawyers. One for every 281 people. Obviously, a big difference in population but almost identical in close in serviceable levels between both countries.

If you’re fortunate enough to be attending the World Cup in Qatar, and get jammed up, you may have a problem securing the services of legal assistance from one of their 152 registered lawyers. Population over there is three million. That’s one lawyer for every 20,000! Yikes. Now if you’re looking for a private investigator to help you out, you may be in luck. There are two thousand registered agencies in Qatar who are willing to take up your cause.

Now over to North America, the book of google throws out some crazy numbers. At last count (2022), some 28,860 private investigators in the USA roam the streets or the keyboards of information. Up in Canada, there are 12,230 registered private investigators. In a ratio based on population, this makes little sense. In the US, it’s one investigator for every 11,625 people , and in Canada, it’s one for every 3,187?

Why? Only five US states require no regulatory means to be an investigator. In Canada, all provinces require licensing and training. More crime? Statistically, not the case. Could it be that security personnel in the US do double duty as private investigators or that there is a run of unlicensed personnel down there? I’m open for any answers or theories?

Back to Qatar, if you happen to be sick or find yourself in an accident, Qatar has the most amount of doctors per cap with one doc for every 77 people. Other than some hard core security at the world cup, the day to day life in Qatar is patrolled by a police force of 200.

Long live lawyers, private investigators (worldwide) and success to Canada in the world cup.