Profit and the Practice of Law: What's Happened to the Legal Profession

Since 1960, powerful and influential law firms in America have shifted from professional service organizations to profit-oriented businesses. To explain how and why this transformation has occurred and how it has affected both lawyers and clients, Profit and the Practice of Law examines the histories of the eight largest firms in Atlanta, Georgia, and similar firms around the country.
Over the past thirty-six years, the number of lawyers in the United States has risen more than 225 percent, large law firms have grown by more than 700 percent, and compensation has increased greatly in excess of inflation. Ironically, as these firms have prospered, their lawyers have become unhappier and more dissatisfied, and the public has become more distrustful and disdainful of them.
Profit and the Practice of Law discusses possible remedies for this malaise and what can be done to reduce the cost of legal services and to reform the practice of law for the benefit of clients, lawyers, and the community as a whole.

Michael H. Trotter is a research fellow and adjunct professor of law at Emory University.