What can law firms do to ensure justice for all? How can they serve the needs of those unable to pay? How can law firms improve the quality of life for their lawyers? At a time when government support for legal aid is limited and under fire, when recent U.S. presidents have urged increased volunteerism, when the American Bar Association's Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge is under way, and when some within the legal profession have called for mandatory pro bono work, this new book examines these important questions. The Law Firm and the Public Good blends academic scholarship with real world experience as it brings together lawyers who have wrestled with the pressures of everyday practice. Concerned about deepening the commitment of large law firms to the wider community, the authors seek to provide a blueprint for firms concerned with creating, developing, implementing, and evaluating pro bono programs. Moving beyond the ethical arguments which justify a law firm's commitment to community service, the authors argue that pro bono work is in the firm's self-interest. They show that a heightened concern with the public good can improve a lawyer's spirit, sharpen lawyering skills, and enhance the humanistic traditions of law practice. They conclude that professional responsibility and self-interest support the same conclusion: that the law firm and the public good are inextricably linked and that each can draw strength from the other in ways that nourish both. The contributors are William A. Bradford, Jr., Hogan & Hartson; Senior Circuit Judge Frank M. Coffin, U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit; Anthony F. Earley, Jr., Detroit Edison; Marc Galanter, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Donald W. Hoagland, Davis, Graham & Stubbs; William C. Kelly, Jr., Latham & Watkins; Esther F. Lardent, director of the ABA's Law Firm Pro Bono Project; Edwin L. Noel, Armstrong, Teasdale, Schlafly & Davis; Thomas Palay, University of Wisconsin-Madison; J

Over 4,000 lawyers lost their positions at major American law firms in 2008 and 2009. In The Vanishing American Lawyer, Professor Thomas Morgan discusses the legal profession and the need for both law students and lawyers to adapt to the needs and expectations of clients in the future. The world needs people who understand institutions that create laws and how to access those institutions' works, but lawyers are no longer part of a profession that is uniquely qualified to advise on a broad range of distinctly legal questions. Clients will need advisors who are more specialized than many lawyers are today and who have more expertise in non-legal issues. Many of today's lawyers do not have a special ability to provide such services. While American lawyers have been hesitant to change the ways they can improve upon meeting client needs, lawyers in other countries, notably Great Britain and Australia, have been better at adapting. Law schools must also recognize the world their students will face and prepare them to operate successfully within it. Professor Morgan warns that lawyers must adapt to new client needs and expectations. The term "professional" should be applied to individuals who deserve praise for skilled and selfless efforts, but this term may lead to occupational suicide if it becomes a justification for not seeing and adapting to the world ahead.

This book offers comparative analyses on issues in lawyer regulation in England and Wales, Japan, Myanmar, New Zealand and Singapore. It examines the lawyer disciplinary systems in different jurisdictions through diverse and comparative perspectives. In addition to enriching the literature on legal ethics, contributions also highlight areas for future research regarding the legal and other professions in different jurisdictions and the methodologies that may be applied. Chapters examine common issues faced by lawyer disciplinary systems throughout the world, such as: transparency of regulatory outcomes, which varies widely and provides challenges to assessing the effectiveness of lawyer regulatory systems whether systems tilt too much toward protecting lawyers and if a move from self-regulation to independent regulators yields better outcomes changes in demographics of the legal profession and regulatory changes posing challenges in longitudinal studies of regulatory systems disciplining of repeat actors raising questions of the deterrence goals of a regulatory system deviation of systems that maintain tight state control over the legal profession from both United Nations and other international norms for lawyer discipline the role of pro bono obligations and the discourse around legal ethics Regulating Lawyers Through Disciplinary Systems will be an invaluable resource for scholars, practitioners and regulators of the legal profession, while also appealing to those interested in legal and other professional ethics. This book was originally published as a special issue of the International Journal of the Legal Profession.

What is public interest law? How effective is it? What are the limits to litigation as a mechanism for conflict resolution? In this study, economists, lawyers, and sociologists evaluate an institutional form that is new to American society and, indeed, to the world--the public interest law (PIL) organization. The book introduces the reader to the structure, resources, and activities of this "nonprofit industry," and also to the factors that affect PIL firms in their choices of cases and methods of handling them. The authors examine PIL's vast range of contemporary public policy concerns. These incude such general topics as the environment, consumerism, housing, employment discrimination, medical care, occupational health and safety, education finance, and taxation. A number of base studies are presented, and a method for economic analysis and evaluation is introduced and applied. The study points to PIL's success in advocating under-represented interests, in winning courtroom decisions, and in translating legal victories into reallocations of resources. At the same time, it notes the bias of PIL towards test-case litigation, a propensity to focus on judicial victories rather than on real social change, and a tendency to use lawyers even when other types of professionals might be more effective. Many of these problems stem from uncertainty of funding and legal restrictions on "nonprofit" organizations. The result is a set of hurdles that distracts PIL firms from their principal goals. The authors do not limit themselves to PIL, but comment on the effectiveness of legal instruments as devices for social change, and on the behavior of the voluntary nonprofit sector, a little-studied portion of the economy. The book presents a fresh approach to the study of both collective-type economic problems and institutional setting in which public interest law works. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1978.

Monographic compilation of essays on public interest, law activities in the USA - presents theoretical analysis of failure of government policy to enhance public interest law, firm behaviour and volume of business, presents case studies in interest group advocacy for environmental protection, housing, employment, sex discrimination, consumer protection, occupational safety and occupational health, etc., and includes jurisprudence. Graphs, references and statistical tables.

As one of the ’learned’ professions requiring advanced learning and high principles, law enjoys a special standing in society. In return for its status and rank, the legal profession is expected to exhibit the highest levels of honesty, trust and morality, the very values which underpin the legal system itself. This, in turn, entrusts to legal education a particular problem of addressing, not only the substantive elements of the body of law, but a means through which the characteristics of the ’calling’ of law are imparted and instilled. At a time when the very essence of the legal profession is under threat, this book calls for a realignment of the legal curriculum and pedagogies so as to emphasise the development of culture over industry; character over eloquence; and calling over skill. Chapters are grouped around the core content and key themes of Curiosity, Calling, Character and Conscientiousness, Contract, and Culture. The volume includes contributions from leading experts, drawn internationally and from other professional disciplines in order to present alternative approaches aimed at tackling common issues, providing insight, and provoking debate.

The profession of law enjoys a special standing in society and the legal profession is expected to exhibit the highest levels of honesty, trust and morality. At a time when the very essence of the legal profession is under threat this book calls for a realignment of the legal curriculum and pedagogies so as to emphasise the development of culture over industry; character over eloquence; and calling over skill. The chapters are grouped around the key themes and include contributions from leading international experts in order to present alternative approaches aimed at tackling common issues, providing insight and provoking debate.

Navigate the law, the history, the theories, the cases, and the system! A legal primer to the practice and history of law in the United States. Every day we encounter the rules of law—from the time we decide to get married, or perhaps divorced, to making a purchase with our credit cards or dealing with bankruptcy. Let The Handy Law Answer Book help you navigate the system. You’ll learn useful advice on how to find a lawyer; what happens when you file a lawsuit or are sued by someone else; what your rights in the workplace are; and what you can expect when you have your day in court. Plus, how to read those legal citations as well as some fascinating—and quirky—legal cases. Combining practical legal tips with an exhaustive overview of the law in the United States, you’ll learn about the history of the U.S. legal system and about the personalities who shaped it. You’ll get an introduction to various laws, important cases, court opinions, and how they all might affect you. You’ll find answers to more than 800 questions, including … Where did the word tort come from? How are state court judges selected? Where did the first U.S. Supreme Court meet? How did our system of law evolve? How does one best navigate that system? How are state court judges selected? How does the law define “marriage”? What should you do if facing too much debt? What is a “wobbler”? With a wide range of information suitable for everyone, this is an ideal source for anyone looking to get a better understanding of the law. Fully illustrated, The Handy Law Answer Book also includes a helpful glossary of legal terms, a list of useful resources, an explanation of legal citations, the full text of the U.S. Constitution, and an index.

The eighth edition offers an updated and streamlined examination of the American system of law, courts, and justice. Part I (Law) reviews the history of courts and justice, common law and civil law systems, as well as law schools and legal education. Part II (Courts) discusses lawyers and the practice of law; unravels the structure and administration of federal and state court systems; delineates the appellate process, the Supreme Court, and judicial review; and describes the roles of judges, prosecutors, and criminal defense attorneys. Part III (Justice) demystifies the criminal justice process, negotiated justice, civil justice, juvenile justice, and alternative forms of justice. Throughout the book, landmark cases, important historical events, illustrative examples, and boxed items highlight or expand chapter content. Each of the twelve chapters concludes with an extensive summary, a list of key terms, and review questions. There is also a glossary that provides a summary of important terms.

This book innovatively explores how universities might be engines of reform and be directed towards social change. Using rich case studies drawn from South African research, the book comprehensively provides a myriad of new perspectives on what constitutes a set of appropriate public-good professional capabilities that will translate successfully into contributions to human development. It challenges universities to produce professionals who have the knowledge, skills and values to improve the lives of people living in poverty in urban and rural settings. It covers issues such as: Conceptualising Public-Good Professionalism Global Issues and Professional Education South African Debates about Higher Education Institutional conditions and professional education arrangements Social Constraints on educating ethically aware public professionals By drawing on an approach that focuses on differing public-good professional capabilities in five professions, this book produces a crucial new framework for the preparation of professionals relevant to the global study of higher education policy. It expands higher education’s contribution to global social justice beyond a concern with human capital, administering a challenge to higher education internationally to address human development in the 21st century. This book will be of great interest to all scholars of higher education involved in higher education studies, comparative education, and development studies. It will also prove valuable to policy makers, higher education leaders and lecturers and graduate professionals in diverse organizations.