Synopsis
What does it mean today to "think like a lawyer"? Drawing on extensive interviews with men and women attorneys, the authors explore how moral reasoning affects lawyers' understanding of justice and their own role in promoting it. This examination of personal and institutional imperatives in the legal profession, illustrated with quotations from the lawyers themselves, raises questions that transcend traditional discussions of legal ethics. The authors examine: the relationship between gender and patterns of moral thinking; the ways that personal morality affects public and professional responsibility; the legal system's response to social changes in public ethics and in women's roles. For example, has the recent influx of women to the legal profession brought moral views that challenge the traditional defining characteristics of a lawyer's job? What happens when a lawyer's personal morality conflicts with the role demands of the profession? In conclusion the authors offer suggestions for constructive changes in legal education and the code of professional ethics to foster morally responsive democracy. All those concerned with moral reasoning, gender roles, and the evolution of the legal system will find this stimulating and timely reading.
Reviews
To research this incisive study of "lawyers' moral values and psychological development" in light of potentially influential gender differences as law draws increasing numbers of women into its ranks, Rand Jack, an attorney, and his coauthor wife, a developmental psychologist, interviewed 36 lawyers practicing in Washington State. They raised such issues as "How do attorneys reconcile personal values with the conflicting demands and obligations of their trade?" and "Do women bring a different point of view to the practice of law?" They conclude that women lawyers often battle for "women's causes" and challenge their allegedly more aggressive and amoral male counterparts in a quest for sensitive, caring practice of their trade. The authors also discuss how lawyers of each gender cope with the gap between professional and personal morality, and suggest that the influx of female attorneys may help to bridge this gap.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Women lawyers tend to be oriented toward "care," social order, and individual well being; men think more of "rights." Justice and legal change need both. Or so the authors argue after interviewing 36 lawyers in a single county in the state of Washington. The results are what might be expected, although this county's remoteness, ethnic makeup, and local traditions--as well as the specific legal issues posed--may have affected the findings. Still, the social conditioning women experience does affect their legal practice. One way to cope with this is to make the profession more susceptible to feminine influence, an idea, however, that some may think is another way of "using" women. A thought-provoking book for laypeople and lawyers alike.
- Leslie Armour, Univ. of Ottawa, Canada
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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