Sociology of the Legal Profession

This research examines the sociology of the legal profession in the United with respect to public interest law. Conceptually, public interest law tends to be perceived both as the advocacy of a social cause, such as human rights or the welfare of children, and as the extension of legal services to persons otherwise unable to afford such services through public defender programs or the provisions of services pro bono through major law firms (Becton, 1991, pp. 58-62; Lee, 1992, pp. 16-23). At times, these two conceptions of public interest law meld into a single activity, such as the Children's Defense Fund (CDF), through which the interests of children as perceived by adults operating the organization are pursued through the legislative and legal systems (Shoop, 1991, pp. 83-84).

The Pursuit of Public Interest Law Through Advocacy of Social Causes

Public interest law is by an large a manifestation of the pursuit of social causes. The very name public interest law tends to create misconceptions of public understanding related to the justness or desirability of the causes pursued and the motivations of the people pursuing those causes. One case in point with respect to the justness or desirability is the Children's Defense Fund. Promoting the protection and welfare of children certainly appears on it face to be a noble objective to most people (Kaus, 1993, pp. 21-25

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planation of how and why public interest organizations such as the CDF tend to lose touch with the society of which they are a part and, consequently, begin to wane as a meaningful force in public interest law (Seligman, 1993, pp. 159-161). The Pursuit of Public Interest Law Through The Extension of Legal Services to the Underclass The second conception of public interest law--the extension of legal services to persons otherwise unable to afford such services through public defender programs or the provisions of services pro bono through major law firms is gaining in acceptance within the legal profession (Gest, 1993, pp. 60-61). One reason for growth in this area of public interest law is the growth in the contemporary period of the underclass, while a second reason is a widening recognition in the United States that an underclass exists, and a third reason is that the legal profession is becoming so crowded that public defender jobs are beginning to look good to many attorneys for reasons other than altruism (Gest, 1993, pp. 60-61). Membership in the underclass is frequently defined as including those inner-city individuals and families who are outside of the mainstream of the American occupational system.
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2390
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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