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Most people go their whole life without needing a lawyer. The courts are generally used to manage a small segment of the population. A single person might be a victim in one case, a defendant in another, may have an open children's service case, custody case, DV restraining order, a lawsuit from her credit card company and an eviction, all at the same time.
One prosecutor told me that the worst part of prosecuting was that most of the people he prosecuted were of low intelligence, had mental defects and were from disadvantaged backgrounds and horrible upbringings. "It always seems like I'm picking on the dumbest most down and out guys" he said.
More than advocating and winning, I see lawyering as a somewhat priestly function. A lawyer reconciles the anti social with society and reconciles the accused with government.
It may seem like the idiots get away with too much in the US. This is true compared to communist regimes where all antisocial behavior is jailable. Miss an appointment in Venezuela? jail. Say disrespectful things? Jail. Fidel Castro executed drug addicts.
In the United States we have more freedom than some places to live the good life. The problem with that is there is not swift justice for people who choose to live the bad life. Is that a bad thing?