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Full-Text Articles in Legal History
Lawyer And Public Service, The Historical Perspectives On Pro Bono Lawyering, Russell G. Pearce
Lawyer And Public Service, The Historical Perspectives On Pro Bono Lawyering, Russell G. Pearce
Faculty Scholarship
Historically, the first way of viewing the lawyer's role was as a member of America's governing class. Second came cause lawyering on behalf of a particular issue. Third, and most recently, arose the idea of pro bono lawyering, a less ambitious incarnation of the governing class lawyer who contributes time to helping cause lawyers. These categories are not rigid: for each individual they may overlap to one degree or another. This framework is preliminary and requires further research and development. Nonetheless, it provides a useful tool for explaining how lawyers-and in particular the heroic lawyers described in this symposium-connect to …
Rediscovering The Republican Origins Of The Legal Ethics Codes, Russell G. Pearce
Rediscovering The Republican Origins Of The Legal Ethics Codes, Russell G. Pearce
Faculty Scholarship
Many commentators wrongly assume that the hired gun ideal is the foundation of our legal ethics codes. This article explains that this assumption is based on an historical mistake that has consequences for interpreting the modern codes. Judge George Sharswood, the nineteenth century scholar whose work provided the basis for the 1908 A.B.A. Canons of Ethics, had a republican conception that rejected the adversarial ethic in favor of a more nuanced conception that combined loyalty to clients with a thick obligation to the public good that both bounded client representation and required lawyers to provide political leadership. Although the emphasis …