Longan Syllabus

The Legal Profession

Spring, 2004

Professor Longan

Syllabus

Course Description

The purpose of the course is to introduce you to challenges facing the legal profession in the United States and to issues that lawyers within the profession individually confront. We will begin with a survey of the structure and state of the profession today. We will then examine a series of criticisms of the profession, some of which concern what lawyers do and some of which concern the lives that lawyers lead. For example, we will spend some time on the proposition that “the advocate’s role in the adversary system is amoral.” Understanding the ramifications of that proposition will take us as far back as Plato, and as far forward as the defense of suspected terrorists. We will read and discuss the views of lawyers, judges, and others on this question. We will also examine it through study of the lives and careers of famous lawyers. Through studying the common criticisms of what lawyers do, I hope both to equip you to defend the lawyer’s role where appropriate and to prepare you to reform the profession where needed.

We will also be studying 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 and purpose in the profession beyond as a means of livelihood. One of the early propositions we confront is that “the legal profession may once have been a noble calling, but now it is just another business.” To understand why anyone would come to this conclusion will require 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 lawyer’s perspective, I hope to help you 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.

In some ways, this course will be similar in structure and methods to other courses you have taken. You will read the assigned material to prepare for class discussion, and at the end of the semester there will be an exam that will determine most of your grade. In other ways, the course will be different. You will write two short essays that will require you to reflect upon your aspirations as a lawyer and as a person. You will spend some time with an experienced lawyer who has volunteered to talk with you about life in the law, and you will write a short paper about the interview. You will have the opportunity to read a biography of a famous lawyer and discuss it in a group with me and with other students. From time to time, distinguished lawyers and judges will visit the class to speak with you.

The course will be taught in two sections. I will teach both of them. Coverage and testing for the two sections will be the same. Details of the reading assignments and class procedures are described below and also are posted on the course web site. Announcements and additional assignments may also be posted on the web site. To access the site, log in to lexis.com and follow the law school link to LexisNexis web courses. When you are given the option to enroll for the course, enter the access code, 12345.

Required materials

You are required to purchase the following books for the course. All are available in the Law School bookstore:

Mary Ann Glendon, A Nation Under Lawyers

Michael Kelley, Lives of Lawyers

Michael Trotter, Profit and the Practice of law

Deborah Rhode, In the Interest of Justice: Reforming the Legal Profession

Richard Zitrin and Carol Langford, The Moral Compass of the American Lawyer

Assignments, examination and grading

Writing assignments:

There are three short writing assignments. These short papers are required but will not be graded. Failure to turn in any of the papers, or failure to make a good faith effort to complete the assignments, will lower your grade.

Oral history assignment:

One of the short writing assignments requires you to meet with a lawyer or judge who has volunteered to meet with you. You will meet with your subject in groups of three, and the purpose of the meeting is for you to do a brief “oral history” of your subject. You will ask the lawyer or judge to reflect upon his or her career and on life in the profession. You will be required to submit a report, individually, about the interview. I will give you more details about this assignment in class.

Biography assignment:

In addition to the reading assignments for class, you are required to read one of the biographies listed below. You will be required to participate in a discussion group with me and with other students who chose to read that book. Although there is no writing assignment related to the book, failure to read it or participate meaningfully in the discussion will lower your grade. You will be welcome to attend the discussions of the other books on the list as well. More details about these books and their subjects will be made available in class.

Jack Bass, Taming the Storm: The Life and Times of Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr.

Alfred Cohn and Joe Chisolm, Take the Witness! (Biography of criminal defense lawyer Earl Rogers)

Clarence Darrow, The Story of My Life

Morris Dees, A Lawyer’s Journey: The Morris Dees Story

Ken Gormley, Archibald Cox: Conscience of a Nation

Benjamin Hooks, The March for Civil Rights: The Benjamin Hooks Story

William Kuntsler, My Life as a Radical Lawyer

Reg Murphy, Uncommon Sense: The Achievement of Griffin Bell

Michael E. Tigar, Fighting Injustice

John C. Tucker, The Education of a Courtroom Lawyer

Lawrence E. Walsh, The Gift of Insecurity

Exam:

At the end of the term, there will be a three-hour, in-class exam that will determine your grade (assuming that you have completed the ungraded assignments satisfactorily). This is a required, three-credit, graded course, and you will be evaluated on the Law School’s usual scale. I will give you during the semester some examples of the types of questions you will face on the exam.

Contact information:

My office is Room 315, and my telephone number is 301-2639. My office hours this semester will be 2:30-4 p.m., Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. You are welcome, however, to come by my office at any time. You may also reach me by e-mail, at longan_p@mercer.edu.

Class Assignments

Part One: The Life of the Lawyer

Unit One: The Legal Profession in 2004

Reading assignment: Michael Kelley, Lives of Lawyers pps. 1-163.

Writing assignment: Write a paper, at least three pages but no more than five, on why you decided to become a lawyer and what you hope to achieve in your career as a lawyer. Describe what kind of person you want to become and how that ambition fits with your professional aspirations. Turn the paper in to my secretary, Jenia Bacote, by Friday, January 23, at 4 p.m. On the paper, identify yourself only by blind grading number. The purpose of this assignment is for you to reflect on these matters and for me to obtain a sense of the motivations and ambitions of the class of 2006.

Unit Two: “The practice of law may once have been a noble calling, but now it is just another business.”

Reading assignment: Michael Trotter, Profit and the Practice of Law, pps. 1-210.

Richard Zitrin and Carol Langford, The Moral Compass of the American Lawyer, pps. 74-93.

Mary Ann Glendon, A Nation Under Lawyers, pps. 17-39.

Unit Three: “It is impossible to have a successful law practice and also be a happy and fulfilled person.”

Reading assignment: Deborah Rhode, In the Interest of Justice, pps. 23-48.

Mary Ann Glendon, A Nation Under Lawyers, pps. 85-108.

Patrick J. Schiltz, On Being a Happy, Healthy, and Ethical Member of an Unhappy, Unhealthy, and Unethical Profession, 52 Vanderbilt L. Rev. 871 (1999) (see link on course web site).

Part Two: The Justice System

Unit Four: “The advocate’s role in the adversary system is amoral.”

Reading assignment: Richard Zitrin and Carol Langford, The Moral Compass of the American Lawyer, pps. 7-73.

Deborah Rhode, In the Interest of Justice, pps. 49-115.

Mary Ann Glendon, A Nation Under Lawyers, pps. 40-59.

Plato, Gorgias (on reserve).

Unit Five: “The distribution of legal services shows that ‘equal justice under law’ is just an empty platitude.”

Reading assignment: Roger C. Cramton, Delivery of Legal Services to Ordinary Americans, 1994 Case Western Reserve Law Review 531 (see link on course web site).

Deborah L. Rohde, Cultures of Commitment: Pro Bono for Lawyers and Law Students, 67 Fordham L. Rev. 2419 (1999) (see link on course web site).

Unit Six: “The way litigation is practiced is uncivilized.”

Reading assignment: Dondi Properties Corp. v. Commerce Savings & Loan Ass'n, 121 F.R.D. 284 (see link on course web site).

Seventh Circuit Civility Guidelines (see link on course web site).

Rob Atkinson, A Dissenter’s Commentary on the Professionalism Crusade, 74 Texas L. Rev. 259 (1995) (see link on course web site).

Part Three: Legal Education, Admission to the Bar, and Professional Regulation

Unit Seven: “Legal education does not train students to be lawyers; it is organized and practiced for the benefit of the educators.”

Reading assignment: Mary Ann Glendon, A Nation Under Lawyers pps. 177-253.

Sol Linowitz, The Betrayed Profession, pps. 113-138.

Deborah Rhode, In the Interest of Justice, pps.185-206.

Timothy W. Floyd, Legal Education and the Vision Thing, 31 Georgia L. Rev. 853 (1997) (see link on course web site).

Unit Eight: “The legal profession is regulated by lawyers for the benefit of lawyers.”

Reading assignment: Deborah Rhode, In the Interest of Justice, pps. 143-183.

Richard A. Posner, Overcoming Law, pps. 39-80 (on reserve).

Part Four: Review and Reflection

Reading assignment: Anthony Kronman, Living in the Law, 54 University of Chicago Law Review 835 (1987) (see link on web site).

Writing assignment: Write a paper, at least three pages but no more than five, on whether your ambitions as a lawyer and as a person are different as a result of this course. If they are, state in what way and why. If they are not, state why not. Re-read and reflect upon the essay you wrote at the beginning of the semester. Do not treat this assignment as your evaluation of the course or of me. You will do that separately, and I will not have access to those until after your grades are in. The purpose of this assignment is for you to reflect on these matters and for me to obtain a sense of the effect of this course, if any. Turn the paper in to my secretary, Jenia Bacote, by Friday, April 30, at 4 p.m. On the paper, identify yourself by blind grading number only.