Lawyers: Social Organization of the Profession

Fiona M Kay, Queens University, Kingston, ON, Canada

2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
This article is a revision of the previous edition article by R. Abel, volume 12, pp. 85538559, 2001, Elsevier Ltd.

Abstract
The social organization of the legal profession varies from country to country and across systems of law. Although the
majority of lawyers work in private practice, many lawyers work in other settings such as government, corporations,
education, and law clinics. In recent years, dramatic changes have taken place, including a tremendous growth in the size of
the legal profession and increasing demographic diversity. The nature of legal work has also changed, with a smaller
proportion of lawyers working independently and more lawyers employed in law rms and other organizations. A rise in
corporate legal work has led to the growth of large law rms with branch and international ofces. These changes present new
challenges for professional ethics, protection of jurisdictions, and self-regulation of the legal profession.

The social organization of the legal profession assumes distinct

forms across various systems of law, across nations, and even
within nations. From jurisdiction to jurisdiction, the profession
is organized differently according to titles and roles, education
and training requirements, and the settings in which legal
professionals work. Yet across jurisdictions, members of the
legal profession, as the experts of law, play a central role in
facilitating the aims of law in terms of social integration,
regulation of behavior, and social change.
The legal profession shares several core elements with other
professions (such as medicine, accounting, and engineering).
The rst is that lawyers are holders of expert knowledge. This
body of knowledge is composed partly of formal, abstract
principles (Abbott, 1988). Their training equips lawyers to
interpret the law and to facilitate various transactions, from
business contracts to intellectual property rights, and from
criminal prosecutions to estates planning. The control over
a body of knowledge leads legal professionals to enjoy
a comparatively high level of technical autonomy in their
work. This is reected in the relative independence of
lawyers work objectives from larger organizational
imperatives. This autonomy is also seen in systems of selfregulation, governance and licensing, and in admission
requirements of the legal profession. Another hallmark of
professions is a normative orientation toward the service of
others. This service orientation is often instilled in law schools,
where students volunteer hours at legal clinics and then
continue in their professional life efforts to ensure access to
justice, including helping those in need through pro bono (e.g.,
free and voluntary) legal services. A nal characteristic of law as
a profession concerns status: lawyers are typically of high status
in society and are well remunerated (Goode, 1961).
In recent years, dramatic changes have taken place in the
world of law practice, changes that challenge this traditional
model of the profession. The legal profession has grown
exponentially in size over the last 30 years. There has also been
a tremendous rise in very large law rms handling corporate
legal work. The nature of that work is increasingly transnational, with many big rms operating branch and overseas
ofces. Within rms, work is increasingly structured by
departments and subdivided into specializations of elds of

628

law. Moreover, one has seen alternative career tracks emerge,

supplementing or supplanting the up or out conventional
promotion model of law rms. These changes have impacted
signicantly the social organization of the legal profession,
leading to greater fragmentation and intensication of hierarchy within the profession. As a result, the hallmark characteristics of law as a profession are also undergoing
a transformation. This article reviews research on the changing
social organization of the legal profession with respect to work
roles, education and training, sectors within the profession,
career paths, demographic change, and contemporary challenges facing the legal profession.

Systems of Law, Professional Roles, and Titles

Differences in the legal profession, specically with reference to
education and core knowledge, are largely based in a countrys
system of law. Civil law systems are characterized by a vast
network of codied laws; one example is France, where
Napoleon introduced a national code in 1804 (other civil lawbased countries include Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Turkey,
Mexico, Chili, and Venezuela) (Deem, 2008; Prez-Perdomo,
2006). Common law countries (e.g., Ireland, the United States,
the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Australia) typically
draw on the British legal system and rely heavily on case law,
based on precedent established through earlier court
decisions. In some countries, hybrid models of law exist. In
Canada, for example, a history of colonization by England
and France resulted in civil and common law systems
infusing different regions of the country. Even in countries
where a single system of law exists, there is increasingly an
infusion of the other system; jurisprudence is becoming more
relevant in civil law countries, and common law countries are
experiencing increasing levels of codication. Nevertheless,
these two systems of law persist in terms of legal education:
civil law tradition law schools encourage the study of codes
and statutes, while common law tradition law schools
emphasize analysis of court cases (Deem, 2008). Other
combinations also exist, such as countries with religious laws
(e.g., Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen based on Islamic law)

International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2nd edition, Volume 13

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.86065-1

Lawyers: Social Organization of the Profession

and pluralist models (e.g., Egypt, Syria, and Morocco with

Islamic law and civil law, and Nigeria and Pakistan with
English common law and some Islamic law applied).
The titles and roles of legal professionals also appear
differently in common and civil law nations. In Great Britain,
a distinction exists between solicitors and barristers. Solicitors
are legal advisors to clients, while barristers, the smaller and
more elite professional group, are trial lawyers in court. Some
common law countries, notably the United States and Canada,
do not make a distinction between solicitor and barrister. In
these countries, lawyers operate as barristers and solicitors,
although they may classify their work as primarily that of
a solicitor or as a barrister or litigator. Notaries exist as a separate occupation, although in restricted numbers, without the
requirement of a law degree, and their responsibilities are
largely limited to administering oaths and attesting documents
(Brockman, 1999).
There are further variations in the words used to describe
lawyers. For example, the term attorney is more commonly
used in the United States than in Canada to refer to a lawyer or
litigator. In civil law countries, variations in titles and roles take
a different form. In contemporary France, avocet encompasses
avou (pleading cases in court), conseil juridique (legal advisor in
business), and solicitor work (e.g., administrative law, wills
and estates, and real estate). Meanwhile, in the province of
Quebec, Canada, following the French civil law tradition, the
avocat(e) and notaire represent two distinct traditions of law
practice. Both professional groups attend law school (notaires
for an additional year to earn a diploma in notarial law).
Notaires may express opinions in all areas of law. However,
unlike avocats, notaires are public ofcials, required to exercise
neutrality and provide advice to all parties. The system of
exclusive jurisdictions in Quebec species that notaries traditionally practice in the areas of real estate, wills and estates,
marriages and family mediation (Kay, 2009); litigation
(criminal law, civil litigation, divorce, and so on) and
advocacy are the realm of avocats, and only avocats can be
appointed judges (Kay and Brockman, 2000).

Education, Licensing, and Practice Settings

Educational training of legal professionals also varies across
countries. Historically, legal professionals trained through
a system of apprenticeship in law ofces. Over the last century,
university law programs became the primary platform for
educating students of law. In many countries, law can be
studied as an academic discipline in college or university,
following secondary schooling (e.g., Spain, Italy, and Portugal), while in other countries (e.g., the United States and
Canada) a college degree is normally required prior to entrance
to professional law schools offering a JD (Juris Doctor) or LLB
(Bachelor of Laws) degree. Many countries require an apprenticeship period after law school. In civil law regions such as
France and Quebec, Canada, this training period includes
practical professional training at an cole Barreau and supervision in a law practice setting. Some common law countries
(e.g., Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland) require
a similar period that lasts several months, followed by a bar
admissions examination (Kay, 2009). After admission to the

629

bar (or swearing in ceremonies, as is the case with English

solicitors and French notaires), law graduates embark on
careers across a broad array of work settings.
The majority of law graduates enter private practice,
working in law rms with other lawyers or on their own as solo
practitioners. In the United States, 75% of lawyers work in
private practice. About half of these lawyers work as solo
practitioners and half in rms, with the majority of lawyers
employed in smaller rm sizes (20% of lawyers work in rms
of 10 or fewer lawyers, 18% in rms between 11 and 50
lawyers, and 20% in rms larger than 50 lawyers) (ABA, 2012).
Although research focuses on large law rms, the reality is most
law rms in the United States consist of just 25 lawyers (76%),
followed by rms of 610 lawyers (13%). Only 11% of law
rms are composed of more than 10 lawyers. And while the
majority of law graduates work in private practice, sizeable
numbers work in government (8%), private industry (8%), the
judiciary (3%), education (1%), legal aid/public defenders
(1%), and private associations (1%) (ABA, 2012).

The Core of the Profession: Private Practice

The Two Hemispheres Thesis
The legal profession is frequently depicted as bifurcated,
divided between more elite, highly remunerated lawyers
serving wealthy corporate clients and general practitioners,
who are less handsomely paid, work in smaller ofces, and
serve individual clients. For example, in their classic study of
Chicago lawyers, Heinz and Laumann (1982) demarcated two
kinds of law practice: elite lawyers who represent large
corporations and those who represent individuals. Lawyers
within each sector differed systematically in terms of the
prestige of law schools they attended, career histories,
likelihood of engaging in litigation, forums of litigation,
social and political values, and social networks (Heinz and
Laumann, 1982). The organizational differences within the
hemispheres shaped professional opportunities and
remuneration.
Twenty years later, Heinz and colleagues returned to study
Chicagos bar, comparing 1975 and 1995 cross-sectional
surveys of the citys lawyers. In their book, Urban Lawyers: The
New Social Structure of the Bar (2005), Heinz et al. revealed
that the contemporary organization of work is subdivided
into smaller, more highly specialized clusters that are less
visibly separated by the distinction between corporate and
personal client types. Furthermore, they observed a shift from
client-based to transaction-based work groups within private
practice. They also challenged the idea of hemispheres, particularly the notion of a globe spliced into equal halves. They
observed that increasing differentiation of lawyers roles over
the 20 years has resulted in fortied internal boundaries that
are more well-dened and difcult to cross (Heinz et al., 2005:
p. 317). The hemispheres themselves also changed. Work for
corporate clients has become a much larger part of the
profession than work for individuals or small businesses.
Fields are now more distinct, more clearly separated.
Specialization has increased markedly in most elds,
especially in the corporate sector. The incomes of partners
and associates in major law rms have become lucrative,

630

Lawyers: Social Organization of the Profession

while the earnings of lawyers working in solo practices, small

rms, and government employment have declined (Heinz
et al., 2005).

Upward Mobility: The Partnership Tournament of Law Firms

Not only has the overall structure of the legal profession
changed in recent decades, but mobility routes within the
profession have also changed. This is particularly the case in
law rms. By the 1960s, most elite law rms in the United
States adopted a structure pioneered by Cravath, Swaine, and
Moore decades earlier. The Cravath system divided rms into
two groups: associates, who came directly from law school
(or judicial clerkship) and received an annual salary, and
partners, who were more experienced lawyers and shared in the
prots of the rm (Milton, 2006). The more senior lawyers had
more work than they could manage and therefore recruited
highly qualied but inexperienced graduates to work on the
rms cases under the supervision of senior lawyers. After an
extended probationary period of typically 58 years, marked
by increasing responsibility, the most procient associates
would be invited into the partnership (the ownership circle of
the rm). Associates outnumbered partners and only a select
few would advance to the partnership. Those not offered
partnership would leave, to be replaced by new recruits. This
competition provided incentives for young lawyers to work
long hours and for older lawyers to train new recruits without
fear they would leave and take clients with them. This model
was widely adopted in the United States and became a model
embraced in many countries (Henderson and Galanter, 2008).
The ratio of associates to partners, known as leverage,
became an important predictor of a rms protability. Rising
numbers of salaried associates often resulted in enhanced
nancial returns for partners (Bruck and Canter, 2008). But
beginning in the 1960s, law rms began to transform.
Businesses faced increasing government regulation through
employment law, civil rights, intellectual property, product
liability, and antitrust and corporate contracts (Galanter and
Palay, 1991). There was an unprecedented surge in demand
for corporate legal services. In the 1970s, rms underwent
further changes. Clients and lawyers both became more
mobile. Firms became more commercial and market
oriented, embracing marketing and professional management
(Henderson and Galanter, 2008). Starting in 2000, the
tournament shifted again. The traditional up-or-out principle
was liberalized to include retention of permanent associates
and appointment of salaried or nonequity partners (Gorman,
1999). There emerged a class of nontournament lawyers,
such as counsel, staff lawyers, staff associates, contract
lawyers, and lawyers at outsourced locations. Partners in
major law rms, formerly treated as having life tenure, were
now sometimes expelled from the partnership. Replacements
were recruited from other rms and clients loyalty extended
to lawyers rather than to rms (Coates et al., 2011;
Henderson and Bierman, 2009; Heinz et al., 2001).
Henderson and Galanter (2008) refer to this new universe as
the elastic tournament, because it involves a stretching of
the tournament to include partners who work longer hours,
accept unequal nancial shares, fear losing their share of rm
prots, and worry about being pushed to retire early.

Contemporary Changes: From Golden Era

to Global Reach
The mid-twentieth century is often depicted as the golden age
of professional work. In this era, the earnings and social status
of professionals (including lawyers) was much higher than
almost all occupations (Gorman and Sandefur, 2011: p. 277).
The 1970s and 1980s brought a period of transformative
changes. There was a dramatic increase in the overall number
of lawyers, and in the number of very large law rms dealing
with corporate legal work. There were also uctuations that
occurred in tandem with economic cycles. For example, when
the economy stalled in the 1990s, corporate law rms
reduced the hiring of new lawyers and many rms
terminated excess lawyers (Heinz et al., 2001). The growth of
corporate sector practice and the decline in the amount of
personal and small business legal work was paralleled by
a corresponding realignment of the organizational contexts in
which lawyers work. Legal work became increasingly
dominated by large organizations as employers of lawyers
these employers included large law rms, corporations, and
government. Solo practitioners, once the majority in private
practice (64% of all lawyers in the United States worked as solo
practitioners in 1960) (Heinz et al., 1998), now represent
slightly less than half of private practitioners (ABF, 2012).
Several areas of law practice ourished during the 1980s
and 1990s. New specialties gained prominence, such as sports,
entertainment, cyber, and health law. Changes in legislation
regulating business activity generated commercial legal
demands. Welfare legislation, environmental protection, land
rights, and antidiscrimination laws further increased demand
for legal services (Anleu, 1992). Alongside this growth in
substantive areas of law, new types of practice such as legal
aid and community legal centers emerged (Weisbrot, 1985).
Another major change was the system of billing clients.
Fixed fee schedules gave way to a system of hourly billing, and
prohibitions on advertising were eroded in several countries
(including Australia and the United States, for example)
(Anleu, 1992). The expectations for annual billable hours by
lawyers working in law rms rose dramatically in the 1990s
(Fourtney, 2005; Richmond, 2000), with a decline after 2007,
likely due to the slowdown in the legal economy starting in
2008. Billable hours appear to be on the rise again
(NALP, 2012).
During this period, law rms grew dramatically in size and
developed distinct practice areas (Nelson, 1988). Departments
emerged, dened by substantive expertise such as tax,
litigation, real estate, and mergers and acquisitions. Typically,
within departments, work was allocated by managers, often
assisted by a second level of supervisors (Flood, 2011; Heinz
et al., 1998). During the last two decades, large law rms
have become increasingly corporatized with the inclusion of
human resources, marketing directors, public relations, risk
analysis and compliance counsel, nance, and technology
departments (Henderson and Galanter, 2008).
These shifts are often described as signaling a trend toward
commercialization and bureaucratization of the bar (Heinz
et al., 1998: p. 770). Law rms increasingly make use of
alternative business structures and management systems for
ensuring provision of legal services in compliance with

Lawyers: Social Organization of the Profession

professional ethical obligations (Parker et al., 2010). As

a consequence, autonomy at the organizational level remains
considerable, while autonomy for individual lawyers has
declined (Gorman and Sandefur, 2011). Some scholars have
expressed concern that the changes are evidence of a loss of
control over work goals, content, and performance (Abel,
1986). Meanwhile, other scholars nd little evidence of
managerial priorities subsuming professional ones. Ackroyd
and Muzio (2007: p. 731), for example, claim that changes
in law rms in England and Wales remain focused on
a refurbishment of professional ideals. In a similar vein,
Faulconbridge and Muzio (2008) contend that law is
undergoing a new form of professionalism, one they
term organizational professionalism, whereby traditional
principles and objectives are secured through law rm
organizational systems.
The massive growth and bureaucratization of large law rms
has introduced new obstacles. The rise of large law rms, with
broad geographic platforms and highly specialized and profitable practice groups and heavily bureaucratized corporate
departments, challenges the task of maintaining shared cultural
values and long-term vision (Henderson and Bierman, 2009).
Massive growth has been accompanied by rising billable hour
expectations, resistance of clients to pay for associate training,
more lateral hiring, alarming levels of associate attrition, and
a decline in rm culture and community. Under these
conditions, law rms may exhibit remarkably little initiative
to pursue noneconomic objectives, such as racial and gender
diversity or the training and mentoring of new lawyers
(Henderson and Galanter, 2008). New challenges are
emerging as an incoming generation of lawyers expresses
dissatisfaction at the career paths offered within large law
rms and clients protest rising billing rates (Nelman, 2010).
These tensions may give rise to innovative new forms of legal
service delivery. For example, Henderson and Bierman
suggest that this dynamic props open a door to a new wave
of boutique and regional law rms with lower cost-structure
and a more innovative, cooperative, and client-centric ethos
(2009: p. 1429).

Globalization and International Law Firms

Growth in rm size has in some ways been dwarfed by the
emerging global reach of contemporary corporate law rms.
While almost all law rms were once locally based, by the
1980s and 1990s it became common for law rms to have
ofces in several major cities in the United States and abroad
(Segal-Horn and Dean, 2011). With ongoing investment of
American and British capital into previously untapped
markets (South America, Eastern Europe, and Asia, for
example), globalization has created a host of new protmaking and client opportunities for those law rms from the
United States and Britain that branch beyond domestic
borders. There are now American and British law rms in Hong
Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing, for example. Curiously in India,
where multinational corporations and international
accounting agencies and thousands of businesses from abroad
actively operate, foreign law rms are barred from practicing
(Krishnan, 2010). The emergence of large, often global,
professional service rms poses a challenge for traditional

631

professional regulatory regimes (Flood, 2011). Attempts by

transnational law rms to import English and American
understandings of legal practice to other institutional
contexts have led to conict, negotiation and adaptation, and
hybridization in best practices (Faulconbridge et al., 2012).
Global law rms encounter even more complex challenges
in China. Since 1992, the year the Chinese government
formally permitted foreign law rms to establish representative
ofces in mainland China, more than 200 law rms have
rushed to this lucrative market. The majority of these law rms
come from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Japan,
and Australia. The two dominant global law rm clusters are
headquartered and parented in the United States and the
United Kingdom. However, foreign law rms are barred from
practicing Chinese law and from employing licensed Chinese
lawyers (Liu, 2008).
At the same time, the legal profession in China has undergone vast changes in recent years. Michelson (2007) highlights
how depoliticization of the legal profession (through reform
aimed at severing ties with government in the 1990s)
resulted in lawyers ocking back to the ofcial system in
search of political protection. Some scholars critique a theory
of market transition and emphasize the continued role of
state-exercised power. For example, Liu (2008) coined the
term the logic of fragmentation, to describe the way ve
service elds related to the legal profession (rural dispute
resolution, grassroots legal services, foreign-related legal
services, corporate and government legal services, and criminal
defense) compete with and intermingle with each other. Liu
(2008) claims that state power guided these changes in the
Chinese legal profession since reform. Other scholars identify
recent powerful social changes that have shaped Chinese
legal practice. For example, Xueyao and Jinhua (2013)
document Chinese citizens growing demands on the legal
profession since the nation has experienced urbanization, the
spread of higher education, and social modernization across
elds. These changes have led to increased autonomy of the
legal profession, a rise in the number of full-time lawyers, an
expanding role played by lawyers in public life, a mounting
volume of nonlitigatious cases that require specialization, and
emerging differences in the organization of the profession
across regions (Xueyao and Jinhua, 2013).

Broader Contours of the Profession

Many lawyers work in small rms or independently as solo
practitioners. For most people, these are the lawyers they
approach for legal matters. And while large law rms dominate
in the urban core of big cities (and in the scholarship about
legal profession trends), many sole practitioners and small
rms have developed a vibrant clientele base in the suburbs
surrounding cities (Seron, 1996). Some small rms exist as
franchise law rms offering standardized services to
a relatively low-income clientele (Van Hoy, 1997). Other
lawyers set up their ofces dedicated to particular areas of
law, such as divorce and family law (Howieson, 2011).
Lawyers also work in numerous contexts besides the standard
private practice setting. For instance, today many large,
complex organizations employ in-house legal counsel to

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Lawyers: Social Organization of the Profession

manage their legal affairs (Park et al., 2011). In addition, many

lawyers work in government, in law clinics and legal aid
services, and in international settings such as the World Trade
Center or The Hague International Criminal Tribunal.

Demographic Diversity: Gender and Racial Minorities

For many years, the legal profession was composed of an
exclusively male and largely majority racial group. As legal
barriers to the entry of women fell in the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries, a gradual trickle of women entered
the profession, although access to certain realms of law practice
remained restricted (Mossman, 2006). For example, in France,
in the interwar years (1930s), women law graduates were
denied access to the highly corporatist legal positions of
notaries (notaires), solicitors (avous and agrs), and court
clerks (grefers) (Fette, 2007). Changes in legal education
facilitated increased demographic diversity in the profession.
The move from an apprentice model to law schools in the
early twentieth century in the United States, for example,
enabled the training of more prospective lawyers. As law
schools adopted more universalistic criteria, including
standardized tests, access to legal education became more
gender neutral. In addition, legal changes emanating from
the civil rights movement of the 1960s mandated equal
access to higher education for historically excluded groups. As
a result, the legal profession came to reect growing numbers
of minorities and women.
Womens representation in the legal profession now far
surpasses the small numbers of the 1970s; women have made
inroads into all sectors of practice, including elite law rm
partnerships, the judiciary, and governance of the bar (Kay and
Gorman, 2008). Women represent 30% of the US legal
profession (ABA, 2012) and make up 47% of US law
graduates (ABA, 2013). However, a signicant amount of
gender inequality persists. Overall, women are more likely to
be found in less remunerative and less prestigious practice
settings. In the United States, for example, women are more
likely to work in solo practice, government, education, legal
aid, and law clinics. There also remains some gender
imbalance across substantive practice areas. For instance,
women remain underrepresented in law rms. Women are
also vastly underrepresented among law rm partners (Kay
and Gorman, 2008; Kay and Hagan, 1998). Outside of law
rms, women appear to lag behind in senior-level positions
in government, public-interest organizations, in-house corporate counsel ofces, and in law schools (Hull and Nelson,
2000). Meanwhile, women are overrepresented among those
leaving the practice of law (Kay, 1997). Gender inequality
and womens attrition from law have been attributed to law
rms inexible work arrangements and excessive time
demands (Walsh, 2012) and to gender bias that limits
womens career progress (Wallace and Kay, 2012).
Todays legal profession is also more diverse in terms of race
and ethnicity in 2010, 88% of US lawyers were white, nearly
5% African-Americans, less than 4% were Latino, and about
3% Asian-Americans (U.S. Census, 2010) yet inequities
persist. Racial minority groups are disproportionately concentrated in certain types of practices (Heinz et al., 1998). In the

United States, for example, relative to whites, minorities are

less likely to be made partners within rms (Chambliss and
Uggen, 2000) and those who are invited to the partnership
are more likely to be made nonequity partners (Wilkins,
1999). There is also evidence of a signicant differential in
earnings among law rm lawyers based on race (Ornstein,
2010). Race not only correlates with reduced promotions and
lower incomes, but there is also evidence that racial
minorities tend to have higher representation in rms with
particular characteristics. For example, racial minorities are
better represented in ofces that are larger and afliated with
larger rms, ofces of rms with higher revenues, ofces with
greater associate-partner leverage, and in branch ofces rather
than principal ofces (Gorman and Kay, 2010).
Explanations for minorities low rates of retention and
promotions in law rms emphasize employers conscious or
unconscious bias rather than individual lawyers choices and
qualications. Law rm partners may be less likely to select
minorities in hiring and promotions due to cognitive bias
favoring whites. The cognitive bias, often based on racial
stereotypes or in-group favoritism, may lead organizational
leaders to perceive minorities as less competent and to hold
minorities to stricter standards in order to demonstrate their
abilities (Wilkins and Gulati, 1996). This problem may be even
greater for minority women. For example, in Garca-Lpezs
(2008) study, female Mexican-American lawyers perceived
that their contributions were undervalued within rms and that
they were assigned responsibilities beneath their capabilities.
As a result, minority associates may be less likely to receive the
developmental opportunities that are essential to acquire skills
needed for success in law rms (Kay et al., 2009). This
disadvantage may compound over time and across rm
hierarchies (Kay and Gorman, 2012). As Wilkins (1999)
demonstrated through his interviews with African-American
partners at major law rms, African-American partners face
obstacles in recruiting new clients, obtaining internal referrals
for work from existing rm clients, and procuring the services
of talented associates.

Consequences and Challenges for

the Legal Profession
Professional Ethics and Regulation
The legal profession, similar to medicine and engineering,
adheres to a model of self-regulation. Under this model,
government has granted the professional community of
lawyers a high degree of autonomy to organize their occupation in return for the professions commitment to assure
quality of services and to place public interest above their own
(Flood, 2011). The legal profession has established means to
inculcate ethical standards in their new members, including
through formal professional education (e.g., law school and
bar admission courses), apprenticeships, formal examination
for admission to the bar, continuing legal education
programs, and workplace socialization. Professional
associations, such as bar associations and law societies, have
established formal systems to monitor and discipline the
behaviors of members through such sanctions as suspensions
and disbarment.

Lawyers: Social Organization of the Profession

Dramatic changes in the world of legal work in recent years

may have eroded the efcacy of this model of self-regulation.
Internally, the legal profession has become more fragmented
and less cohesive. The growth in specialization within the
profession means specialists in particular legal elds may
identify more closely with their community of specialists than
with the profession as a whole (Mather and Levin, 2012). Large
corporate law rms have expanded globally to meet
transnational demand and this global reach may mean
lawyers working overseas experience weaker involvement in
their local or national communities (Gorman, in press;
Wilkins and Papa, 2013). Law rms have to comply with
their headquarters regulatory system and that of the host
country where overseas ofces are based. This creates a need
for regulation that transcends borders (Flood, 2011).
Furthermore, although large law rms and corporations
that employ lawyers impose their own competing constraints
on professional conduct, changing conditions of work
threaten the traditional structures of law rms that foster
a community of legal professionals necessary for informal
monitoring and accountability (Gorman and Sandefur, 2011).

Jurisdictional Disputes and Professional Monopoly

The legal professions market for services has grown in recent
years with the expansion of global and corporate transactions.
At the same time, established jurisdictions of the legal profession have been eroded by other groups providing legal advice,
including accountants, realtors, managerial consultants,
mediators, notary publics, and paralegals (Ackroyd and Muzio,
2007). Many tasks traditionally performed by lawyers are now
assigned to paraprofessionals, such as paralegals. The
relationship with these other occupations is at times
complimentary (as is the case of paralegals employed by solo
practitioners or law rms) and at other times, competitive
(e.g., where paralegals provide a less costly alternative for
legal services). In some countries, like Canada, paralegals
have been absorbed into the organizational structure of law
societies the governing body of lawyers. Law societies now
monitor educational standards, licensing, and discipline of
paralegals and lawyers. Intraprofessional competition also
occurs in mixed jurisdictions among legal professionals, as is
the case in Quebec, Canada, where notaries and avocats compete
to steer law reform, recruit law students, and expand jurisdictions of practice (Kay, 2009). Yet despite some encroachment
on services by other professional groups and internal
jurisdictional disputes, lawyers continue to maintain
dominance as the experts of legal knowledge.
Today the legal profession remains a highly distinguished
profession, one that is organized around rigorous educational
requirements and professional training. Lawyers provide legal
advice and representation, working across a diverse range of
settings, including private practice, government service, private
industry, legal clinics, education, judiciary, and corporate
counsel. The legal profession has undergone vast changes in
recent years in terms of a dramatic growth in numbers,
increased demographic diversity, expanded corporate and
transnational work, larger law rms, and changing career
ladders. Nonetheless, the legal profession continues to enjoy
considerable autonomy to oversee education, accreditation,

633

monitoring, and discipline of its members as well as a resilient monopoly over legal services.

See also: Civil Law; Common Law; Equality and Inequality:

Legal Aspects; Gender and the Law; Globalization: Legal
Aspects; Islamic Law; Law Firms; Lawyers, Regulation of; Legal
Systems, Classication of; Paralawyers: Other Legal
Occupations; Political Lawyering; Race and the Law.

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Relevant Websites
http://www.americanbar.org/aba.html American Bar Association.
http://www.barcouncil.org.uk/ The Bar Council, Representing Barristers in England
and Wales.
http://www.barreau.qc.ca/pdf/publications/brochure-profession-avocat.pdf le
Barreau du Qubec.
http://www.cba.org/ Canadian Bar Association.
http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/ The Law Society of England and Wales, Representing
Solicitors in England and Wales.
http://www.nalp.org/ The National Association for Law Placement (US).
http://www.wsba.org/Legal-Community/Minority-Bar-Associations/National-MinorityBar-Association-Directory National Minority Bar Association Directory (US).