In the Interests of Justice: Reforming the Legal Profession
In the Interests of Justice: Reforming the Legal Profession
In this penetrating new book, Deborah L. Rhode goes beyond the commonplace attacks on lawyers to provide the first systematic study of the structural problems confronting the legal profession. A past president of the Association of American Law Schools and senior counsel for the House Judiciary Committee during Clinton's impeachment proceedings, Rhode brings an insider's knowledge to the labyrinthine complexities of how the law works, or fails to work, for most Americans and often for lawyers themselves. She sheds much light on problems with the adversary system, the commercialization of practice, bar disciplinary processes, race and gender bias, and legal education. She argues convincingly that the bar's current self-regulation must be replaced by oversight structures that would put the public's interests above those of the profession. She insists that legal education become more flexible, by offering less expensive degree programs that would prepare paralegals to provide much needed low cost assistance. Most important, she calls for a return to ethical standards that put public service above economic self-interest.
Elegantly written and touching on such high profile cases as the O.J. Simpson trial and the Starr investigation, In the Interests of Justice uncovers fundamental flaws in our legal system and proposes sweeping reforms.
Author: Deborah L. Rhode
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 04/10/2003
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.84lbs
Size: 9.02h x 5.68w x 0.77d
ISBN: 9780195165548
About the Author
Deborah L. Rhode is Professor of Law and Director of the Keck Center on Legal Ethics and the Legal Profession at Stanford Law School. A past president of the Association of American Law Schools and senior counsel for the House Judiciary Committee on impeachment issues during Clinton's impeachment proceedings, she is the author of Legal Ethics, The Legal Profession: Responsibility and Regulation and, forthcoming from OUP, Ethics in Practice: Lawyers' Roles, Responsibilities, and Regulation. She lives in Stanford, California.
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