He was unmoved by the report that the entire 14th floor of Wardell Chambers in Martin Place, employing 23 barristers and support staff, will close its doors on December 31.

Offering no apology for the jobs shake-out in law practices following his legislative assault on "the culture of litigation", Mr Carr said: "The fact is there will be fewer jobs for lawyers, but with their education they are well placed to go into retraining.

"In this modern day and age a lot of workers have had to be retrained.

"Lawyers are not a protected species, and their habits of over-litigation were adding to the cost of doing business in NSW.

"We couldn't have allowed it to go on." Mr Carr claimed that while excessive litigation had lined the pockets of lawyers, it had resulted in the closure of community events, the wrecking of the workers' compensation system and could have put thousands of people out of work.