The lawyer's myth : reviving ideals in the legal profession /

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Bennett, Walter, 1943-
Imprint:Chicago : University of Chicago Press, ©2001.
Description:1 online resource (x, 240 pages)
Language:English
Subject:Lawyers -- United States.
Practice of law -- United States.
Avocats -- États-Unis.
Droit -- Pratique -- États-Unis.
LAW -- Legal Profession.
Lawyers.
Practice of law.
United States.
Electronic books.
Electronic books.
Format: E-Resource Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11206500
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:9780226042565
0226042561
9780226042558
0226042553
1282537601
9781282537606
9786612537608
6612537604
Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-234) and index.
English.
Print version record.
Summary:Lawyers today are in a moral crisis. The popular perception of the lawyer, both within the legal community and beyond, is no longer the Abe Lincoln of American mythology, but is often a greedy, cynical manipulator of access and power. In The Lawyer's Myth, Walter Bennett goes beyond the caricatures to explore the deeper causes of why lawyers are losing their profession and what it will take to bring it back. Bennett draws on his experience as a lawyer, judge, and law teacher, as well as upon oral histories of lawyers and judges, in his exploration of how and why the legal profession has lost it.
Other form:Print version: Bennett, Walter, 1943- Lawyer's myth. Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, ©2001 9780226042558
Description
Summary:Lawyers today are in a moral crisis. The popular perception of the lawyer, both within the legal community and beyond, is no longer the Abe Lincoln of American mythology, but is often a greedy, cynical manipulator of access and power. In The Lawyer's Myth, Walter Bennett goes beyond the caricatures to explore the deeper causes of why lawyers are losing their profession and what it will take to bring it back.<br> <br> Bennett draws on his experience as a lawyer, judge, and law teacher, as well as upon oral histories of lawyers and judges, in his exploration of how and why the legal profession has lost its ennobling mythology. Effectively using examples from history, philosophy, psychology, mythology, and literature, Bennett shows that the loss of professionalism is more than merely the emergence of win-at-all-cost strategies and a scramble for personal wealth. It is something more profound--a loss of professional community and soul. Bennett identifies the old heroic myths of American lawyers and shows how they informed the values of professionalism through the middle of the last century. He shows why, in our more diverse society, those myths are inadequate guides for today's lawyers. And he also discusses the profession's agony over its trickster image and demonstrates how that archetype is not only a psychological reality, but a necessary component of a vibrant professional mythology for lawyers.<br> <br> At the heart of Bennett's eloquently written book is a call to reinvigorate the legal professional community. To do this, lawyers must revive their creative capacities and develop a meaningful, professional mythology--one based on a deeper understanding of professionalism and a broader, more compassionate ideal of justice.
Physical Description:1 online resource (x, 240 pages)
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-234) and index.
ISBN:9780226042565
0226042561
9780226042558
0226042553
1282537601
9781282537606
9786612537608
6612537604