Digital Commons Network^™

Where Is The "Quality Movement" In Law Practice?, William H. Simon

Faculty Scholarship

The "Quality Movement" that originated in industrial production and has since influenced the professions prescribes standardized work, root cause analysis of errors, peer review, and performance measurement. While these reforms have transformed medicine and some other professions, their influence has lagged in the legal profession. This Essay reviews the limited progress of the reforms in law and assesses the cultural, institutional, and doctrinal obstacles they face.

Stratification Of The Legal Profession: A Debate In Need Of A Public Forum, Laurel A. Rigertas

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

The American legal profession cannot presently meet the legal needs of the population. Ordinary citizens’ demand for legal services continues to rise, but those services are increasingly unaffordable. Recent law school graduates struggle to find professional employment opportunities, particularly ones that can provide salaries to meet their rising debt obligations. At the same time legal education continues to provide a general program of education while legal practice is increasingly specialized. The legal profession has not been innovative about meeting these related challenges. This article argues that the stratification of the legal profession has not been adequately explored as a way …

The Challenges Of Developing Cross-Cultural Legal Ethics Education, Professional Development, And Guidance For The Legal Professions, Philip Genty

Faculty Scholarship

The broad goal of this paper is to describe the need, and provide a framework, for engaging in cross-cultural conversations among lawyers, law teachers, and others, who are using legal ethics as a vehicle for improving the legal professions and the delivery of legal services. All legal cultures struggle with the question of how to educate students and lawyers to be ethical professionals and how to regulate the legal profession effectively. The purpose of the cross-cultural conversations discussed in this paper would be to develop principles of legal ethics education, professional development, and regulation of the legal professions that can …

Paradigm Shift, William D. Henderson, Rachel M. Zahorsky

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Game Changer, Patrick A. Mcguire

JD Alumni Magazine

Why the rapidly evolving landscape for clients requires creative new moves from lawyers and the profession.

The Knowledge Guild: The Legal Profession In An Age Of Technological Change, Paul F. Kirgis

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Class Of 2009: Recession Or Restructuring?, William D. Henderson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Lawyering At The Intersection Of Public Law And Legal Ethics: Government Lawyers As Custodians Of The Rule Of Law, Adam M. Dodek

Dalhousie Law Journal

Government lawyers are significant actors in the Canadian legal profession, yet they are largely ignored by regulators and by academic scholarship. The dominant view of lawyering fails to adequately capture the unique role of government lawyers. Government lawyers are different from other lawyers by virtue of their role in creating and upholding the rule of law Most accounts of government lawyers separate public law duties of government from ethical duties of lawyers; for example, acknowledging the "public interest" role ofgovernment lawyers but asserting that this has no impact on their ethical duties as lawyers. Instead of this compartmentalized approach, this …

Taxes And Death: The Rise And Demise Of An American Law Firm, Milton C. Regan

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Misconduct by lawyers in law firms is often attributed to pressures from increasing competition for legal services. Modern firms do face fierce competitive pressures. We can gain more subtle insights, however, by focusing on the specific markets in which particular firms operate and the ways in which forms of influence in law firms interact with common patterns of behavior in organizations.

This paper, a chapter in the collection Law Firms, Legal Culture, and Legal Practice, draws on this type ofanalytical framework to provide a case study of the experience of Jenkens & Gilchrist, a national law firm that had …

Foreword: The New Era- Quo Vadis?, John Sahl

Akron Law Faculty Publications

The Inaugural MBI Symposium’s twenty-six participants highlight many important developments and challenges caused by MJP and new technologies. Their assessments and suggestions provide a helpful roadmap for lawyers and regulators to negotiate the increasingly complex, fast-paced, and ethically risky landscape for delivering legal services. Several panelists suggested regulatory reforms that range from the creation of a regulatory framework for lawyers engaged in crossborder practice to the creation of standards for the supervision of offshore outsourced legal services268 and the mining of metadata. Some of the panelists’ suggestions and reforms are especially important given the “high [financial] stakes” involved in the …

Rise Of Political Populism And The Trouble With The Legal Profession In China, Dongsheng Zang

Articles

This essay looks into recent efforts by the ruling party in China to tighten control of the judiciary, the lawyers and prosecutors under the slogan of "harmonious society" in the last couple of years. This reversed the direction of judicial reform under the leadership of Xiao Yang, during his tenure as President of the Supreme People's Court before 2008. The trouble with the legal profession in China, the essay asserts, is not only that it loses its professional autonomy thus its ability to act as a sociopolitical force that is independent from the ruling political party; but also, by virtue …

What We Don't Know Can Hurt Us: The Need For Empirical Research In Regulating Lawyers And Legal Services In The Global Economy, Carole Silver

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Special Introduction: October 2010, Lauren K. Robel

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Transnational Legal Practice 2009, Carole Silver, Laurel S. Terry, Ellyn S. Rosen

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article identifies some of the most important U.S. and international developments in transnational legal practice and provides citations for further research. The article begins by briefly reviewing the impact of the recession on legal services. The second section focuses on international developments. It identifies some of the ongoing efforts to implement the 2007 U.K. Legal Services Act, including the issuance of the influential Hunt and Smedley reports. It also provides information about law reform initiatives in France, Scotland and Korea. This section of the article also provides information about Canadian and Australian developments regarding admission of foreign applicants and …

Taking Empirical Research Seriously, Susan Saab Fortney

Faculty Scholarship

This essay considers how empirical research on the legal profession can bridge the divide between theory, social science, and the ethical practice of law. After providing background information on the growing field of empirical legal research, Part I of this essay focuses on developments in empirical legal research on lawyering. Part II discusses how collaboration with practitioners and other stakeholders can help researchers address challenges related to accessing data. Once data are obtained, Part III suggests how dissemination and sharing of research can link the academy and practicing lawyers. The conclusion urges a collaborative course of action for legal ethics …

Taking Empirical Research Seriously, Susan Saab Fortney

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

This essay considers how empirical research on the legal profession can bridge the divide between theory, social science, and the ethical practice of law. After providing background information on the growing field of empirical legal research, Part I of this essay focuses on developments in empirical legal research on lawyering. Part II discusses how collaboration with practitioners and other stakeholders can help researchers address challenges related to accessing data. Once data are obtained, Part III suggests how dissemination and sharing of research can link the academy and practicing lawyers. The conclusion urges a collaborative course of action for legal ethics …

Finding The Silver Lining: The Recession And The Legal Employment Market, Rachel J. Littman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Bursting Of The Pedigree Bubble, William D. Henderson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Foundational Competencies: Innovation In Legal Education, David E. Van Zandt

Faculty Working Papers

Spurred by a rapidly changing legal environment and a desire to differentiate and maximize the success of our graduates, Northwestern Law recently completed a major strategic planning initiative resulting in a revolutionary report entitled Plan 2008: Preparing Great Leaders for the Changing World. Plan 2008 is the most recent installment of a long-term process to enhance our student quality and programs. The new initiatives build upon a strategic plan that we have been refining since its implementation in 1998. Under the prior plan, we introduced the evaluative admissions interview and work-experience policy for applicants.1 We also added a number of …

Compilation Of Studies In Gender And The Legal Profession, Alison Silber

2009: Hard Facts: Retaining and Advancing Women Lawyers in Challenging Economic Times

This study illustrates career satisfaction and work-life balance in the legal field. The information was distributed at the "Hard Facts: Retaining and Advancing Women Lawyers in Challenging Economic Times" conference, April 24, 2009.

"Old And Making Hay:" The Results Of The Pro Bono Institute Firm Survey On The Viability Of A "Second Acts" Program To Transition Attorneys To Retirement Through Pro Bono Work, Kenneth Glenn Dau-Schmidt, Esther Lardent, Reena Glazer, Kellen Ressmeyer

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In his 1998 Fairchild Lecture, Professor Marc Galanter proposed the idea that senior attorneys should be encouraged to undertake "a second 'public service' career" as a way of transitioning to retirement. The logic for encouraging such "Second Acts" in lawyers' careers is compelling. As Professor Galanter has demonstrated, in the coming years, there will be record numbers of attorneys navigating the transition to retirement as the "Baby Boomers" reach their golden years. This substantial body of highly skilled lawyers could have a significant impact on fulfilling unmet needs for legal representation. If even 5% of the practicing attorneys over sixty-five …

Dean’S Message, Lawrence Raful

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Indiana's Latest Study Of The Legal Needs Of The Poor, Amy Applegate, Monica A. Fennell

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Lobbying And Litigating Against "Legal Bootleggers"- The Role Of The Organized Bar In The Expansion Of The Courts' Inherent Powers In The Early Twentieth Century, Laurel A. Rigertas

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

This article suggests that the state judicial branches in the 1930’s and 1940’s may have overreached by holding that state legislatures did not have the constitutional power to define the practice of law. These holdings arose from the efforts of the organized bar, which may have been more motivated by fears of competing lobbying groups than by legitimate constitutional constraints on the legislatures' power. This development put the legal profession on a trajectory that may not ultimately be in the best interest of consumers of legal services. Part I is a brief overview of the early development of the separation …

Cravath By The Sea: Recruitment In The Large Halifax Law Firm, 1900-1955, Jeffrey Haylock

Dalhousie Law Journal

The traditional view is that regularized, meritocratic hiring in Canadian law firms had to wait until the 1960s, with the rise in importance of Ontario university law schools. There was, however, more regional variation than this view allows. After an overview of the rise of large firms in the U.S. and Canada, and of the modern hiring strategies (the "Cravath system") that developed in New York in the early twentieth century, the author considers whether Halifax firms were employing these strategies between 1900 and 1955. Nepotistic hiring continued unabated; however, the three large firms of the period recruited young students …

Tales Of Two Regimes For Regulating Limited Liability Law Firms In The Us And Australia: Client Protection And Risk Management Lessons, Susan Saab Fortney

Faculty Scholarship

This essay contrasts the regimes that allow limited liability partnerships in the US and fully incorporated legal practices in Australia. The essay argues that Australia has taken advantage of an opportunity to develop innovative and necessary regulation of law firm ethical infrastructure with the introduction of incorporated legal practices, but the United States has not yet adequately addressed the consumer and ethical risks of limited liability partnerships. This essay raises the issue of whether Australia’s requirement that incorporated law firms should implement “appropriate management systems” to ensure ethical conduct is a model that could fruitfully be applied to all law …

Special Features, University Of Michigan Law School

Law Quadrangle (formerly Law Quad Notes)

Approaching the nation’s highest bench – Project for new facilities gets underway – The transformation of private practice

Women And The Law: Touro Law Center Symposium

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

No abstract provided.

Towards A Reformed Conception Of Multidisciplinary Practice , George C. Nnona

Cleveland State Law Review

Drawing out the deeper questions of pragmatism, professional autonomy, argues, contrary to the dominant academic opinion in the field, that the empirical underpinnings of multidisciplinary practice (MDP) are weak as are its theoretical justifications and overall compatibility with the policy imperatives of true professionalism. The Article is in a sense a response to the observation of the eminent scholar of the legal profession, Professor Charles Wolfram that, "shockingly little has been written in opposition to MDP." The Article critically examines and refutes the arguments deployed in support of MDP, a subject that has attracted much attention in recent times as …

Effects Of Reputation On The Legal Profession, Fred C. Zacharias

Washington and Lee Law Review

This Article considers how the reputation of lawyers and signaling between lawyers and clients affects the impact of legal ethics rules. Academics who have written about the relationships between lawyers and clients have not adequately considered the influence of reputational signaling on who clients hire and on lawyers' implementation of discretion. These empirical issues are key to a proper analysis of many professional rules and to the approach bar associations should take to matching lawyers and clients. The Article will focus primarily on lawyers' reputations as a proxy for what clients want, or need, to know about their representatives. Part …