Law Commons^™

The Fall And Rise Of Professionalism, Thomas D. Morgan

University of Richmond Law Review

In recent years, there has been an increasing concern among lawyers that the legal profession may be declining in "professionalism." Professionalism is not a self-defining term; indeed, it is greatly overused today. There are professional football players, professional models and even professional wrestlers. The question, then, is what it means to be a professional for purposes of trying to decide whether lawyers are more professional or less professional than before. Although several definitions might be offered, I would assert that traditional professions seem to have at least three attributes.