Law Commons^™

Constructing The Practices Of Accountability And Professionalism: A Comment On In The Interests Of Justice, Susan Sturm

Faculty Scholarship

In the Interests of Justice: Reforming the Legal Profession lives up to its ambitious title. Deborah Rhode comprehensively surveys the structural problems confronting the legal profession, from its subscription to the "sporting theory of justice" to its preoccupation with profit. The book also lays bare the failure of legal education and the professional regulatory system to confront the roots of these structural problems.

I must confess that reading the book felt like a whirlwind tour of the legal profession's inevitable problems. In part, this perception grew out of the sheer range of economic, institutional, and structural factors contributing to the …

"When Smoke Gets In Your Eyes": Myth And Reality About The Synthesis Of Private Counsel And Public Client, John C. Coffee Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

A recurring fallacy in any debate over legal ethics or public policy is to assume that the particular problem under examination is unique and unprecedented. Expand one's field of vision, and precedents and analogs quickly turn up. This rule applies with special force to the debate over retention by state attorneys general of private counsel to represent them on a contingent fee basis in the recent litigation against the tobacco industry. Because this litigation produced a highly successful outcome, while most private litigation against the tobacco industry has not, some are led to the conclusion that this combination of private …

Lawyers And The Practice Of Workplace Equity, Susan Sturm

Faculty Scholarship

Lawyers involved in the pursuit of workplace equity are difficult to pigeon-hole. Of course, the practice of many employment lawyers conforms to conventional understandings of lawyers' roles. These lawyers litigate cases on behalf of management or employees, advise clients about their legal rights and obligations, and define their mission as avoiding liability or winning battles in court.But innovators have crafted interesting and dynamic roles that transcend the traditional paradigm. These innovators connect law, as it is traditionally understood, to the resolution of the underlying problems that create and maintain workplace inequity. Civil rights lawyers working in both public and private …