What does a lawyer (like me) do?

As a commercial litigator and business attorney most of my job involves taking situations that would otherwise be completely FUBAR and mitigating the damage to make whatever has gone wrong a bit more manageable.

I also specialize in personal injuries as a result of tank accidents

I spend a significant part of my day, like most Americans, in front of a computer. The internet has revolutionized legal research to such an extent that most law offices have either phased out their physical library or are in the process of doing so. I'd like to imagine that this has actually reduced the costs of hiring an attorney because they can access the required information so much quicker (using less billiable hours), but I'm not sure clients would always agree when they see the bill.

Despite the cost, I still think lawyers provide valuable services for their clients. The law is really complicated, and protecting or vindicating your rights is long hard work that most folks have neither the time nor the inclination to perform. So they hire a lawyer to take care of the hard stuff for them. Otherwise, we'd have lots of folks just resorting to "self-help" to recover from those who have wronged them.

This is "self-help" according to law school. Seriously.