NCJ Number
99352
Date Published
1984
Length
316 pages
Annotation
This book on the internal politics of the legal profession addresses law school admissions and teaching methodologies; stratification and discrimination within the profession; judge selection; the economic realities of dispute resolution; and influences on judicial decisions, with particular attention to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Abstract
The book traces the history of the law school in the United States and the rise of academic training over the apprentice route to the bar. Also discussed are the law schools' hierarchical tiering, their traditional discrimination against women and minorities, and the socialization resulting from the law school experience. Profiles of the Wall Street attorney, the Washington bar, private criminal attorneys, and black lawyers illustrate identifiable subgroups within the profession. Also examined are the organized bar as a professional association devoted to its members' interests, the pervasiveness of politics in the recruitment and selection of judges as exemplified by Federal and State selection schemes, and the complex organization of State courts. The book describes processes which settle cases outside of court and the legal assistance available to corporate clients, the poor, and the middle class. To illustrate the extent to which the U.S. Supreme Court is capable of entering the public policy arena, attention is focused on its role in public school desegregation, prayer in the public schools, the exclusionary rule in criminal justice, and the reapportionment of State legislatures. Footnotes and an index are provided.