The Law Profession & Lawyers
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Anyone who wished to reshape the way law is practiced in the United States could not be blamed for thinking that the easiest way to bring this about would be to sit back and do nothing. As essays by Abel and Nelson demonstrate, the face of American law is changing steadily and the balance of power within the profession will inevitably shift toward today's younger lawyers whose numbers include so many more women and minorities as well as an increasing number of "employees" who are replacing the old model of professional independence, the solo practice. Most importantly the cumulative changes in the profession in the 1970s and 1980s "strongly suggest that we are witnessing the decline of the professional configuration, if not its demise" (Abel, "Transformation" 19). But all the problems of law practice--even those that spring directly from the strategies of professionalism--are unlikely to disappear completely. If, therefore, one were to be offered the option of an 'all-powerful' position from which to make all the desirable changes in law practice it might be as well to accept. Professionalizing the law meant that lawyers "sought to control their market and raise their collective status by regulating production of and by producers and stimulating demand" (Abel, "American" 128). Control over education and certification and the establishment of self-regulation meant that who practiced law, and how, was under the control of the profession as represented by the American Ba
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wyers--and often work counter to the interests of clients--while other aspects merely "protect the inept members of the profession rather than the society they ostensibly serve" (Abel, "American" 128). This service to clients and society is clearly of secondary importance when pitted against the desires, and self-conception, of the legal profession.
In many ways the huge growth in the number of lawyers and the increased competition will, as Abel claimed, contribute to the overhaul of the profession. As Heinz's and Laumann's study of the social structure of the Chicago Bar shows, for example, the sharp division of labor along personal- and corporate-client lines has a deep effect on the coherence of the profession. In the 1950s, for example, the bar would probably have reached a quick consensus that only lawyers should be allowed "to search real estate titles and handle the closings of home sales," barring anyone else from performing these lucrative tasks by making such actions "the unauthorized practice of law" (Heinz & Laumann 31-32). But with today's growing specialization and increased competition among lawyers themselves, the lawyers who represent real estate brokers and title companies--and whose clients would rather no
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1278
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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