Legal Profession Commons^™

The Unmet Legal Needs Of The Poor In Maine: Is Mandatory Pro Bono The Answer?, Wendy F. Rau

Maine Law Review

In 1989, the Maine Commission on Legal Needs was formed to study the civil legal needs of Maine's poor population and to develop a plan for meeting those needs. Similar projects have been undertaken in a number of other states and by the American Bar Association in recent years. Each study has revealed a significant unmet need among the poor for assistance with legal problems. There seems little doubt that the situation is serious and widespread. The difficulty lies in finding a solution. One proposal that has been advanced is mandatory pro bono, a program that would require attorneys to …

Leveraging Legal Analytics And Spend Data As A Law Firm Self-Governance Tool, Nancy B. Rapoport, Joseph R. Tiano Jr.

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

Our essay has five parts: (i) a discussion of how external forces are reshaping the economics of today’s legal industry; (ii) examples of the types of decisions that tend to drive up the cost of bills in contravention of ethical duties; (iii) a discussion of possible reasons for those decisions (including a short discussion of social science explanations); (iv) a description of how attorneys can use data analytics tools to self-govern how they staff, deliver and bill for their legal services; and (v) recommendations for how both clients and law firms can benefit from proactively managing, on the front end, …

“The More Things Change, The More They Remain The Same:” Lawyer Ethics In The 21st Century, Gregory C. Sisk

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

At an accelerating pace since the recession, our legal profession has been undergoing structural changes in the delivery of many legal services. At the same time, longstanding principles of ethics continue to govern the day-to-day lives of practicing lawyers.

This article lays out four examples of how meaningful change in lawyer practice has been accomplished since the turn-of-the-century with continued adherence to bedrock professional concepts. First, the rules now embrace the multi-jurisdictional practice of law, while the disciplinary authority of each jurisdiction is emphatically confirmed and strengthened. Second, rules on lawyer advertising are streamlined to grant largely open-ended permission for …

The Wise Counselor: Review Of Legal Upheaval: A Guide To Creativity, Collaboration, And Innovation In Law By Michele Destefano, Honorable William G. Young

University of Miami Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

An Excerpt From Chapter 3 Of Legal Upheaval: A Guide To Creativity, Collaboration, And Innovation In Law, Michele Destefano

University of Miami Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

Roger C. Cramton And The Legal Services Corporation, Charles W. Wolfram

Cornell Law Review

No abstract provided.

Roger C. Cramton And The Availability Of Legal Services, Thomas D. Morgan

Cornell Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Law Firm Operations Team: Collaborative Agent Of Change In A Changing Profession, James Keuning, Ann Rainhart

Mitchell Hamline Law Review

No abstract provided.

Alternative Business Structures: Good For The Public, Good For The Lawyers, Jayne R. Reardon

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

There has been a shift in consumer behavior over the last several decades. To keep up with the transforming consumer, many professions have changed the way they do business. Yet lawyers continue to deliver services the way they have since the founding of our country. Bar associations and legal ethicists have long debated the idea of allowing lawyers to practice in “alternative business structures,” where lawyers and nonlawyers can co-own and co-manage a business to deliver legal services. This Article argues these types of businesses inhibit lawyers’ ability to provide better legal services to the public and that the legal …

The Business Of Law: Evolution Of The Legal Services Market, Tyler J. Replogle

Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review

The legal services market is changing. This change has been driven by various factors through the years: expansion of in-house legal departments, globalization (through mergers and outsourcing), technological advances, and the rise of alternative legal service providers. This paper explores these factors in isolation—i.e., discussing each factor separately and distinctly from other factors. Then, this paper seeks to understand these factors together, as products of a legal services market that is evolving from the growth stage into the mature stage.

Part I summarizes the early history of law firms, including the rise of the Cravath System through the Golden Era …

The Impact Of Technological Developments On The Rules Of Attorney Ethics Regarding Attorney–Client Privilege, Confidentiality, And Social Media, Pamela A. Bresnahan, Lucian T. Pera

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

This article focuses on the development of the law of ethics and technology. Emphasis is placed on how technological developments have affected the rules and means by which lawyers practice law and certain ethical pitfalls that have developed hand-in-hand with technological advancements. Topics examined include: (1) the ways by which electronic communication has increased the potential for the attorney–client privilege to be waived and the resulting impact on the present-day practice of law; (2) the effect of social media on lawyers’ ethical obligations, including counseling clients regarding the client’s use of social media and the lawyer’s own use of social …

European Communities – Legal Profession – Council Passes Directive Allowing Lawyers To Provide Services Across National Borders (Council Directive, March 22, 1977), David S. Gordon

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

No Lawyer For A Hundred Miles?: Mapping The New Geography Of Access Of Justice In Canada, Jamie Baxter, Albert Yoon

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Recent concerns about the geography of access to justice in Canada have focused on the dwindling number of lawyers in rural and remote areas, raising anxieties about the profession’s inability to meet current and future demands for localized legal services. These concerns have motivated a range of policy responses that aim to improve the education, training, recruitment and retention of practitioners in underserved areas. We surveyed lawyers across Ontario to better understand their physical proximity to clients and how, if at all, that proximity promotes access to justice. We find that lawyers’ scope of practice varies based on a number …

Exporting The Legal Incubator: A Conversation With Fred Rooney, Fred Rooney, Justin Steele

University of Massachusetts Law Review

A legal conversion between Justin Steele, Executive Articles Editor of the UMass Law Review and Fred Rooney, Director of the International Justice Center for Post-Graduate Development at Touro Law Center.

Measuring The Justice Gap: Flaws In The Interstate Allocation Of Civil Legal Services Funding And A Proposed Remedy, Dion Chu, Matthew R. Greenfield, Peter Zuckerman

Pace Law Review

With the supply of legal services not particularly responsive to demand, we conclude that the justice gap could be narrowed simply by reforming the way in which policymakers distribute legal services funds while holding constant the total amount of funds distributed.

In reaching this conclusion, we proceed in two parts. First, drawing largely from Access Across America and LSC data, we analyze the supply of legal services funding across states. Since eligibility for Legal Services Corporation (LSC) funds is principally determined by income (only individuals in households with income at or below 125% of the federal poverty level are LSC …

Encouraging The Development Of "Low Bono" Law Practices, Luz E. Herrera

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Women In The Legal Profession, 1970-2010: A Study Of The Global Supply Of Lawyers, Ethan Michelson

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

This article represents the first effort to measure the changing global supply and composition of lawyers over a period of several decades. In it I assemble data on lawyer populations and gender compositions from eighty-six countries and use them to calculate estimates for the rest of the world in order to paint a truly global picture of the changing supply of lawyers in general and of female lawyers in particular. Most of the data supporting my analyses come from a unique and hitherto untapped source: individual-level census data. Results reveal a clear sequence in the global process of lawyer feminization. …

Advocating For A Civil Right To Counsel In New York State, Kathryn G. Madigan

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

From The Great Depression To The Great Recession: (Non-)Lawyers Practicing Deregulated Law, Michael A. Bush

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Future Of Public Interest Law, Scott L. Cummings

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Trust And The Global Law Firm, Robert K. Vischer

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Kidsvoice: A Multidisciplinary Approach To Child Advocacy, Scott Hollander, Jonathan Budd

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

There is growing recognition that effective child advocacy requires a broad range of knowledge that often goes well beyond the legal needs of the child. This Essay details the multidisciplinary approach to child advocacy that KidsVoice, a Pittsburgh legal services organization representing almost 5000 dependent children each year, has implemented to better develop uniquely tailored recommendations regarding which placement and services might create better possibilities of success for each child and family.

Legal Services Corp. V. Velazquez: A Problematic Commingling Of Unconstitutional Conditions And Public Fora Analyses Yields A New Grey Area For Free Speech, Christopher A. Gozdor

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Large Law Firm Misery: It's The Tournament, Not The Money, Marc S. Galanter, Thomas M. Palay

Vanderbilt Law Review

Will young lawyers truly be happier and more fulfiled if they can restrain their appetite for money? Professor Schiltz's wonderful sermon certainly provides a stirring argument in the affirmative. In his eyes, it is greed (or materialism) that has led to the decline of the profession and makes lawyers unhappy. Lawyers' lust for money is at the root of their unhappiness with the profession.' This is broken down into two steps: "[m]oney is at the root of virtually everything that lawyers don't like about their profession: the long hours, the commercialization," etc., etc. And their obsession with money leads lawyers …

Liberalizing International Trade In Legal Services: A Proposal For An Annex On Legal Services Under The General Agreement On Trade In Services, Michael J. Chapman, Paul J. Tauber

Michigan Journal of International Law

The legal services industry is experiencing a fundamental transformation. Thirty years ago, legal markets were almost exclusively national; today, a global legal market is emerging and evolving at a considerable pace. Unfortunately, further globalization is hindered by the failure of national regulatory systems to respond effectively. Globalization has made domestic regulation more difficult because it increases the complexity of the interactions between lawyers, the legal system, and the authorities responsible for regulating the legal profession. As the process of globalization has blurred the distinction between national and international legal issues, an international regulatory regime governing transnational legal practice has become …

Building Community Among Diversity: Legal Services For Impoverished Immigrants, Robert L. Bach

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Part I of this Essay introduces the Immigrants' Legal Needs Study (ILNS), which provides most of the data for this Essay. Part II focuses on immigrants' access to legal assistance. It analyzes the problems and needs of recently arrived poor immigrants-both immigrants share with longer established poor residents as well as special needs related to immigrants' residency status. Part III addresses the present day demography of our urban communities, including the levels of new immigration. Parts IV and V detail the legal difficulties faced by poor immigrants, the ways they deal with these problems, and community responses to these needs. …

Book Review: The Right To Justice: The Political Economy Of Legal Services In The United States, Jane M. Picker

Cleveland State Law Review

No abstract provided.

Book Review: The Right To Justice: The Political Economy Of Legal Services In The United States, Jane M. Picker

Cleveland State Law Review

No abstract provided.

Lawyers At The Prison Gates: Organizational Structure And Corrections Advocacy, Susan P. Sturm

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article attempts to fill the gaps in the discussion of public interest advocacy by exploring the roles of various legal organizations in providing representation to inmates challenging the conditions and practices in prisons, jails, and juvenile justice institutions. It is an outgrowth of a study conducted for the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation on the extent and quality of representation in corrections litigation. It puts forward an organizational change model of public interest advocacy as the most promising strategy for legal representation in the corrections area. It then identifies the major organizational providers of representation, assesses where they fall on …

Transitional Legal Practice And Professional Ideology, Bryant G. Garth

Michigan Journal of International Law

This essay assumes that there are three other reasons for studying transnational legal practice. First, such a study provides a way to explore some of the dilemmas that we often overlook about our domestic legal system. In both the domestic and transnational legal settings we are uncomfortable with the idea of law as "merely a business"; troubled by the invasion of "legality" into domains that once had seemed immune from state regulation; wary of the expense of "mega" law and litigation; reticent about a "total justice" which is expected to compensate individual victims of every unpleasant social accident; and nervous …