Not all lawyers are good lawyers. Not all clients are good clients. A lawyer's job is to help the client understand the risks of his actions. The client's job is to decided if the risks are outweighed by the potential rewards. In practice, these roles are often very much confused. What should have been a mere threat assessment becomes strong advice on a course of action. The lawyer overstates the risk in a CYA type way, the client interprets this as a "should do" and everyone feels that the safest thing to do is just to lock themselves in padded rooms. (except for paying the $250/hour legal bill; That's always safe).
Though it looks like lawyers are the only ones profiting from it, also blame the sue-happy culture in the US, and the lawmakers for making that possible.
And due to the chilling effects, only criminals and crazy people even dare to do anything anymore. Others listen to the advice to "be afraid" and sit cowering in their homes.
