Name: Patrick E. Longan

Title: Bootle Chair in Ethics

School: Mercer University

Mailing Address:

1021 Georgia Ave.

Macon, GA 31207

Phone: 478-301-2639

Email: longan_p@mercer.edu

Home Page: www.law.mercer.edu/faculty/index.cfm?staffid=240

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Summary Description:

The Legal Profession is a required, first-year, three-credit course at the Walter F. George School of Law of Mercer University. The idea for the course originated with a long-range plan that emphasized the teaching of professionalism.

The course begins with a survey of the structure and state of the profession today. We then examine a series of criticisms of the profession, some of which concern things lawyers do and some of which concern the lives lawyers lead. For example, we study the proposition that the advocates role in the adversary system is amoral. Understanding that proposition takes us as far back as Plato, and as far forward as the defense of accused terrorists. We read and discuss the views of lawyers, judges, and others on this question. We also examine it, and the other propositions, by studying the lives and careers of famous lawyers. In the part of the course that deals what lawyers do, I hope to equip the students to defend the lawyers role where appropriate and to prepare them to reform the profession where needed.

We also study critiques of the life the lawyer leads in the profession. The central theme of this study is whether, and how, a lawyer can find meaning in the profession beyond as a means of livelihood. One proposition we confront is that the legal profession may once have been a noble calling, but now it is just another business. Understanding why anyone would come to this conclusion requires us to examine the history of the profession, the demographics of its membership, and the economics of law practice. By looking at the life of the lawyer from the lawyers perspective, I hope to help the students understand why the practice of law can be, and should be, more than a way to make a living. It is a life and not just a job, and it is a life well worth living.

The methodology of the course is conventional in that the students read assigned material to prepare for class discussion and, eventually, an exam. In other ways, the course is unconventional. The students write two essays that require them to reflect upon their aspirations as lawyers and as people. Each student will meet with an experienced lawyer and conduct a brief oral history. The students choose from a list biographies of lawyers and judges and participate in discussions about the book. They will also hear directly from leaders of the bench and bar. For example, the State Bar Professionalism Committee is meeting in Macon in order to participate as a group in the class.

Most law students arrive with little knowledge about the profession but with sincere aspirations to do good things. Too often, the aspirations dissipate as they learn more about what lawyers do and how they live. The measure of this course will be whether it can educate the students about the realities of the profession and, simultaneously, inspire them to retain their nobler ambitions.

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Program History:

The Legal Profession course is being taught for the first time in the spring semester of 2004. Approximately 140 students, the entire first-year class, will be enrolled. It is a required course and will be taught every year.

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Confidential Items:

N/A

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Expanded Program Description (Optional):

None

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Supporting Materials:

The syllabus for the course