Ethics in Practice

Lawyers' ethics have been condemned for centuries, but they received little scholarly scrutiny until the last few decades. Ethics in Practice brings together leading experts in the emerging field of legal ethics to discuss the central dilemmas of practicing law. This collection cuts across conventional disciplinary boundaries to address the roles, responsibilities, and regulation of contemporary lawyers. Contributors address common concerns from diverse perspectives, including philosophy, psychology, economics, political science, and organizational behavior. Topics include the nature of professions, the structure of practice, the constraints of an adversarial system, the attorney-client relationship, the practical value of moral theory, the role ofrace and gender, and the public service responsibilities of lawyers and law students. Unique in both its breadth and its depth, this book redefines debates that are of enduring significance for both the profession and the public.

"These essays should prove especially provocative and instructive for students and practitioners of law. Recommended for upper division undergraduates, graduates, and law students." - - CHOICE, "This is a splendid and finely-crafted collection. It can serve both as a state-of-the-art guide to the most important current debates about legal professionalism and as the starting point finally to move beyond the rhetorical posturing that still dominates the field. Instead of adding more words toward laments about the decline in professional ethics or the lack of lawyer civility, the authors find new theoretical and practical approaches that confront the full complexity of the asserted professional crisis and its causes."—Bryant Garth, American Bar Foundation, "The honest critiques and moral ambitions of the essays collected in this volume revitalize the study of the legal profession. Deborah Rhode has brought together a bracing mixture of scholars who pursue the structural as well as the personal factors crucial to meaningful change."—Martha Minow, Harvard University, "The ethical dilemmas of lawyers are a staple of professional debates, but also of popular culture. The reason for such broad curiosity is simple: the promises of any justice system very much depend on the conduct of its ministers. So in a democracy, it is essential that the public, not the professionals, be the final arbiter of the rules governing the behavior of lawyers. To advance that goal, Deborah Rhode has here assembled leading American thinkers on the topic who, in clear prose based on experience, illuminate the issues in ways that permit readers to understand the questions and supply their own answers."—Stephen Gillers, New York University, "Some of the most formidable minds in the country turn their attention to the complex and sometimes contradictory ethical principles that underlie legal practice in this compelling book. Rhode's own brilliant analysis and commitment is complemented by an array of essays—distinguished by their depth and clarity—that will engage readers far beyond the boundaries of the legal profession."—Cynthia Fuchs Epstein, Graduate Center, CUNY

Deborah L. Rhode is the McFarland Professor of Law and Director of the Center on Ethics at Stanford University. She has served as president of the Association of American Law Schools and Chair of the American Bar Association's Commission on Women in Profession, and as senior counsel for the House Judiciary Committee on impeachment issues. She is the author or coauthor of eleven books and over one hundred articles, and has received the Keck Foundation Award forDistinguished Scholarship on Ethics by the American Bar Foundation, as well as the Pro Bono Publico Award from the American Bar Association.