Lawrence M. Friedman and Harry N. Scheiber, eds., Legal Culture and the Legal Profession Boulder, CO: Westview Press (1996) pp. 79-118
Abstract
For over a decade the reigning public view of the United States' legal establishment has been a negative one. In many quarters the civil justice system is viewed as a miasma of opportunistic self-seeking and a menace to America's economic well-being. Much of the animosity is focused on lawyers as the authors, proprietors and chief beneficiaries of that system. When it comes to lawyer-bashing, there is not much new under the sun. Hostility toward lawyers is a perennial. Yet its expressions vary greatly. There is a great cultural repertoire of anti-lawyer observations and sentiments.2 At any time one or another grievance may gain prominence. The changes in fashion are not random, but are part of wider changes in sensibilities. I propose to examine the distinctive anti-lawyerism of the present to see what it tells us about our legal system, our society, and ourselves.
