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Books > Law > Jurisprudence & general issues > Legal profession
First published in 1999, this international collection of essays on legal education addresses the following issues: The Law School and the University. Research into legal education has often been regarded as a marginal activity as compared with research into substantive areas of law. However, recent years have seen a growing interest in discussions about the purpose of the university law school and the ways in which law is taught within it. Are we educating professional lawyers or legal scholars? What do we really mean when we say we want to offer 'a liberal education in the law'? What effect are the current changes in higher education funding and policy having on law schools and what takes place within them? The international group of scholars who have contributed to this collection come from very different jurisdictions, but they have written about topics which, while they have local resonances, are of concern globally. Global Issues, Local Questions addresses matters which concern all law teachers, whatever their field of substantive legal expertise.
The contemporary legal landscape is no longer a rigid hierarchy composed of limited and complacent behemoths, but rather an ecosystem, filled with a wide variety of players that facilitate disruption and revolution and jostle for clients' attention with agility and innovation. This includes - but is certainly not limited to - entities such as technology companies, consultants, alternative legal service providers, and paraprofessionals. Law firms are not the only ones in this environment that must adapt or fail; the legal department and in-house counsel, too, must transform in order to remain relevant and competitive. The world of the general counsel (GC) has already seen massive shifts - ever-increasing globalization has meant more legal issues and corporate activism, which in turn has generated new challenges and heightened demand. The GC cannot simply act in the role of outsourcer of work to external counsel, as in the past. With the growth of legal departments (it is now not uncommon for legal departments to number in the hundreds or even thousands, often formed of expensive lateral hires) the GC must now wear a number of hats, including that of the "CEO" of their department. The introduction of data analysis into the legal space and the oft-repeated mantra of "less with more" has meant that the GC must now think in terms of spend and budget more than ever before, transforming the legal department from a cost-center to a value-add. They must cultivate a breadth and scope of vision, able to organize and lead their department as an innovator. The flourishing legal ops role also provides yet another challenge for the GC. As the incorporation of legal ops within the law department becomes increasingly essential, the GC must work to ensure alignment and manage change. The present time has been hailed as the golden age of in-house lawyering, yet - and perhaps because of this - it is an uncertain and challenging time for the GC. Tipping Point: Transformation and Innovation in the Legal Department is intended as a handbook for the GC looking to build a truly modern legal department and revolutionize their role. Encompassing aspects from leveraging influence with the c-suite to reimagining organizational hierarchies and seeking the right operational professional, this publication features contributions from those at the frontiers of the profession as it transforms and embraces new areas of expertise.
Doping is undoubtedly one of the most controversial issues within sport. Doping scandals wreck the careers of sportsmen and women, they can bankrupt governing bodies, infringe personal liberties, threaten livelihoods, tarnish images, galvanise the European Union, undermine the Olympic Movement and invoke invective from politicians. In recent years, sports law has developed into one of the most exciting and challenging legal disciplines and the importance of the law in doping matters has been heightened by the influx of money into sport and the development of sport as a global economy. Drugs and Doping in Sport brings together work from leading academics, practitioners and administrators, analyses contemporary socio-legal and political themes related to doping in sport. It provides a challenging and often controversial view of doping issues and confronts political and legal orthodoxy, supplying the reader with a unique insight into this fascinating area of academic study.
Today's law firm is an entity in flux. Economic and technological disruption - along with a range of other factors - have contributed to this change, meaning that firms are not what they used to be. It is therefore a necessity that the way they are managed also needs to change. This means, among many things, the need to corporatize the running of the firm; a move away from the focus on the billable hour towards more intangible activities such as business development and marketing and - perhaps the most important factor - the development of a new kind of leader within the legal landscape. The new kind of leader now demanded by a transformed legal profession is not readily forthcoming, however. Legal culture stresses individualism and independence, which is reinforced by firm governance, practice management, and performance management systems that are ill-suited to foster supportive and collaborative leadership practices; lawyers are trained and conditioned to be combative, autonomous, and didactic. To position oneself as a contender in a fast-moving and competitive market, the legal leader of the future must push back against these trends by acting strategically, engaging in people management, investing in their employees, and creating a working environment that places emphasis on communication, teamwork, and growth and development. Legal leadership: a handbook for future success combines the latest and most relevant intelligence from those on the frontline of law firm leadership and management, to serve as the catalyst for change and the foundation on which a strong leadership practice can be built. Drawing on their expertise and experience, our authors - ranging from behavioral psychologists to senior management figures and pofessional coaches -present a wide range of competencies and strategies to cultivate as part of a leader's personal and professional development. Whether you are already a member of your firm's senior management, or in a junior position with big aspirations, Legal leadership: a handbook for future success provides the essential tools to equip you to become a leader of the future.
The organizational competence of project management provides a solid foundation for every activity conducted by a business and the practice of law. Legal project management (LPM) provides the discipline that enables lawyers and those who manage legal work - in law firms, law departments and alternate legal services providers - to define, demonstrate and deliver greater value by balancing the scope of work, time, and resources as they strive for optimal efficiency, outcomes and client satisfaction. Although many distinguish the business of law from the practice of law, innovators in legal project management take an integrated approach. In commercial and governmental settings, practicing law is not an academic exercise, nor an end in itself. Effective legal services address a client's business needs, opportunities and risk profile, and may also implicate public policy and legal precedent. The client experience is personal as well as professional. LPM provides a framework for meeting all these challenges. Innovations in Legal Project Management profiles those who have done the difficult work of harnessing the relevant aspects of legal project management as a strategy that is explicitly aligned to a law firm's or legal department's business objectives and culture. The authors describe communication strategies and techniques to train, coach and mentor those acquiring the skills to implement legal project management practices as a core aspect of the firm's business strategy, operations, quality legal services, and focus on the client experience. All the contributors to this book are professionals who continuously see around corners in improving the legal profession. They have created value for their firms, clients, and organizations; others have advanced the legal profession. They have systematically: - Used deep insights about particular clients to create new services and ways of doing things that impact the client's business goals; - Incrementally improved the speed, value (cost/margin), and quality/ benefits of the product or service they deliver; and/or - Relied on technology that is homegrown or highly customized to meet users' needs.
The role of the professional support lawyer (PSL) first emerged in the early- to mid-1990s amongst London's Magic Circle, and quickly became essential for mid-size and even smaller firms. However, this golden period for the PSL came to an abrupt end with the global financial crisis and the subsequent recession, which rocked the legal landscape; the greatest shockwaves were inevitably felt by legal support teams, as many firms sought to maintain profitability by shifting their focus to fee-earners and cutting what was quickly perceived as superfluous business functions. The slow but steady recovery of the economy and the consequent pick-up of client demand since then has meant that the importance of PSLs to law firm operations has once again been recognised. However, the legal profession is not the same as it was before the recession; this is reflected in not only the changes in what is expected from fee-earners, but also support staff such as PSLs. Traditionally seen as a backstage position that mainly involved administrative work and the drafting of precedents, the PSL role is rapidly transforming. A PSL cannot only contribute to a firm's competitive edge by providing the traditional technical expertise; it has now become essential to perform tasks ranging from involvement in business development to the provision of training, the capture and dissemination of knowledge, product selection, and project management. This kind of flexibility is a quality that has made the role of the PSL attractive to those seeking an alternative to legal practice; however, it brings its own challenges. With such a wide variety of responsibilities and functions, it can be difficult to find relevant information on what career development might look like, or the skills needed for the progression. Identifying current issues and future challenges, too, is rendered problematic by this versatility. The Evolving Role of the PSL aims to fill this information gap.
The concept of learning to 'think like a lawyer' is one of the cornerstones of legal education in the United States and beyond. In this book, Jeffrey Lipshaw provides a critique of the traditional views of 'thinking like a lawyer' or 'pure lawyering' aimed at lawyers, law professors, and students who want to understand lawyering beyond the traditional warrior metaphor. Drawing on his extensive experience at the intersection of real world law and business issues, Professor Lipshaw presents a sophisticated philosophical argument that the "pure lawyering" of traditional legal education is agnostic to either truth or moral value of outcomes. He demonstrates pure lawyering's potential both for illusions of certainty and cynical instrumentalism, and the consequences of both when lawyers are called on as dealmakers, policymakers, and counsellors. This book offers an avenue for getting beyond (or unlearning) merely how to think like a lawyer. It combines legal theory, philosophy of knowledge, and doctrine with an appreciation of real-life judgment calls that multi-disciplinary lawyers are called upon to make. The book will be of great interest to scholars of legal education, legal language and reasoning as well as professors who teach both doctrine and thinking and writing skills in the first year law school curriculum; and for anyone who is interested in seeking a perspective on 'thinking like a lawyer' beyond the litigation arena.
Created by programmers from the mid-90s onwards and launched by technology disruptors in 2008 on the back of the biggest corporate failings in trust and honesty the modern world has seen, Blockchain collects facts as diverse as Wikipedia and churns them out as randomly as Alexa in a playschool. Heralded as the next big thing, blockchain has the potential to radically change the way lawyers work, and even threaten their very existence. So, what is it, and how does it work? This book, featuring opinions and experience from some of the most knowledgeable thought leaders on the subject, aims to cut through the hype and explore the many different facets of blockchain, and what it will mean for the legal profession.
The modern legal library is caught in a transformative stage. Often seen by firm management as unnecessary and outdated, legal libraries are facing a double-pronged challenge: it is now essential for librarians to demonstrate the continuing value of their profession whilst battling with shrinking budgets and the development of new, disruptive technologies that are transforming working practices and processes at a rapid rate.
Often thought to be a primitive or ancient practice, scapegoating
is revealed here as occurring in the justice systems of modern
democracies. Ann Daniel, as a first-hand witness, documents several
widely publicized disciplinary cases brought against prominent
professionals in law and medicine. These were the people who became
scapegoats as their professional communities tried to rid itself of
troubles and confusions threatening their reputation at the
time.
Often thought to be a primitive or ancient practice, scapegoating
is revealed here as occurring in the justice systems of modern
democracies. Ann Daniel, as a first-hand witness, documents several
widely publicized disciplinary cases brought against prominent
professionals in law and medicine. These were the people who became
scapegoats as their professional communities tried to rid itself of
troubles and confusions threatening their reputation at the
time.
Commentators have argued for many years that law firms need to move forward from their traditional, seniority-based compensation systems. But it's not enough to simply add performance-related elements at the edges of these. Shifting generational-based attitudes; changing career aspirations; increasingly demanding clients; and pricing innovation and development in the range of benefits that can be offered (both financial and non-financial) all conspire to urge firms to rethink how their compensation system operates at all levels, across the whole firm. By reviewing these emerging factors, Compensation Innovation: An in-depth exploration into the future of law firm compensation aims to inspire law firms towards future proofing their compensation systems so that they continue to deliver results as their partnerships age. Exploring also the interplay between compensation and succession planning, and compensation and lateral hiring, the authors keep one eye to the future.
Client experience (CX) is by no means a new concept. Ever since the service industry came into being, providing excellent customer service has been a key concern, with particular focus on how the client experiences the service they are receiving. Yet, client experience is rarely delivered well. Inconsistencies, errors, and an endlessly unanswered phone lead to frustration on the part of the client, and a feeling that they are worth little more than a signature on the monthly timesheet. So, how do law firms, and individual lawyers, ensure they exceed expectations, and deliver the best customer experience possible? And what benefits - tangible and intangible - does this bring? Innovations in Client Experience brings together a collection of global contributors, giving their thoughts and advice on how the legal profession can up its game in client experience, offering innovative strategies and pragmatic advice to those law firms concerned they need to improve their CX.
The issue of underperformance at partner level remains incredibly agonising and sensitive in law firms. Low demand for legal services has been compounded by an increase in the competitive forces both inside and outside the legal profession. Life has become even more difficult for partners, for whom performance demands have increased at the same time as the availability of work has tailed off. Underperformance continues to affect law firms in many ways, not least of which are diminished profitability, loss of opportunity, the disaffection of high performers, challenges to the firm's values and falling morale. What is more, underperformance has to be seen not just in terms of productivity but also in terms of a more holistic approach to a firm's standards. Drawing on original and academic research from the past 8 years, and featuring contributions from law firm performance experts including Edwin Reeser, Angus Lyon, and Patrick McKenna, author Nick Jarrett-Kerr's highly anticipated Tackling Partner Underperformance 2nd Edition covers topics including: *Trends in partner performance *Understanding why partners underperform or are underproductive *Judging, rating and evaluating partners *Aligning performance with partner compensation and rewards *Supporting and rehabilitating underperforming partners *Stress and mental illness impact on performance *Systems for partner performance management *Underperformance culture *Governance, communication and conflict management *And more. Tackling Partner Underperformance 2nd Edition is arguably the most comprehensive study ever undertaken into partner underperformance in law firms, and those firms (regardless of size and location) who utilize and implement the information, advice and practical strategies for addressing this issue, will see significant differences in their productivity and ultimately profitability.
Inside and Outside the Law analyses the relationship between the
law, the state and its citizens. Drawing on general theories and
specific case-studies, it examines the diverse ways in which people
in different cultural and historical settings have experienced the
ambiguities of law. Its theme develops to engage with current
debates concerning the status of rules and codification in social
life and to the revival of interest in moralities.
Inside and Outside the Law analyses the relationship between the
law, the state and its citizens. Drawing on general theories and
specific case-studies, it examines the diverse ways in which people
in different cultural and historical settings have experienced the
ambiguities of law. Its theme develops to engage with current
debates concerning the status of rules and codification in social
life and to the revival of interest in moralities.
In the last decade, the changing role of time in society has once again taken centre stage in the academic debate. A prominent, but surely not the only, aspect of this debate hinges on the so-called acceleration of time and its societal consequences. Despite the fact that time is fundamental to the way in which law and politics function, the influence of the contemporary experience of time on law and politics remains underdeveloped. How, for example, does society's structural acceleration impact on justice? Does law actually offer stability and predictability in an ever-changing global world? How can legal and political institutions function in the wake of ever-increasing uncertainty? Both law and politics employ time to order society but they are also limited in what can be effectuated by time. It is this very tension between temporal possibilities and limitations that the contributors to this collection - drawn from different fields of law, as well as from other disciplines - examine.
The discipline of knowledge management (KM) continues to evolve along with our ability to record larger and more varied kinds of information than ever before. Since its inception in the 1990s, it has passed through several stages, quickly becoming a credible field, and now an integral part of major businesses worldwide. Now, many have started to argue that KM is undergoing resurgence, possibly even transforming into KM 3.0, thanks to developments in artificial intelligence (AI). And, while AI has been around for many years, it has become a buzzword in the industry as questions loom over what it could mean for the labor market of the future. Adoption has been relatively slow in the legal profession, owing in part to its conservative nature, individual-focused training and no real incentive to overhaul the hourly billing model1. When in-house legal teams can exceed 1,000 people, sharing and reusing knowledge can easily become inefficient, with counsel often needlessly paying for the same research twice. Global intelligence software leader Comintelli estimates that $8.5 billion per year is lost between Fortune 500 companies alone on poor KM2, up from $31.5 billion in 20043, suggesting a recent rise in the number of firms embracing the concept. Despite this, there are still challenges posed to the legal world, and sharing insight is more vital than ever, not only within companies but between them. Innovations in Legal KM explores the endeavors of various legal firms - the problems they have faced, and the solutions they have developed - to improve their KM processes, and, ultimately, their bottom line.
Time - as they say - is money. It is not an uncommon fact that lawyers today spend unnecessary amounts of time seeking out information, and therefore unnecessary amounts of money. In well-established fields, change is often slow; perhaps none more so than in the legal world. Though progress is being made, uptake has been rather slow, much to the dismay of those in the information management business. Conversely to its cousin, case management, matter management should be thought of more in terms of low-volume but high-value information. The process thus lends itself nicely to forming centralized systems within organizations. It is so pervasive as to allow users to make decisions (e.g. conflict resolution) before matters are even opened, and can maintain a high level of time data accuracy and transparency via unalterable fundamental data. From innovative and simple interfaces to enhanced reporting tools, from notification systems to customizable workflows, triumphs within matter management have enabled companies to become more efficient by saving time and money, and to engage stakeholders in a meaningful way. Redefining Matter Management: A Best Practice Guide to Improving Processes and Profitability is a collection of case studies that highlights some of the most important achievements and ideas in the field today.
Paying For Residential Care: A Guide For Private Client Practitioners is authored by Austin Thornton, co-author of the previous editions of this title. The new edition is a complete rewrite, which has been necessitated by the introduction of the Care Act 2014 and the repeal of the previous law. In a departure from the second edition, the book includes a full section on the legal basis for NHS continuing care eligibility and how to pursue appeals. It provides comprehensive cover of the Care and Support (Charging and Assessment of Resources) Regulations 2014, and will assist advisors in risk assessing the use of family trusts. It is hoped that this work will allow those advisors who are prepared to put in the work necessary to learn the material to make a decent job of arguing with councils and the NHS on the range of topics that are covered. The ultimate aim of this book is therefore to assist the public by enabling lawyers and other advisors to assist them.
Published in 1996, this book presents an innovative method for studying the work of professionals with clients that was applied to an evaluation study of legislation and of lawyers working with clients seeking a divorce. With the simulated client methods, the researcher plays the role of simulated or hypothetical clients with predetermined characteristics who are consulting a lawyer, the research subject. The research is carried out in the natural setting of the lawyer's office and the lawyer conducts business as usual. The method overcomes problems of access due to client confidentiality that are commonly found in research of professional groups. It is a qualitative but focused method for evaluation research which has strengths for making comparisons across professional practice. The book will be useful to those conducting research on professionals and other elite groups working with clients as well as those interested in the socio-legal study of legal professionals. This book was originally published as part of the Cardiff Papers in Qualitative Research series edited by Paul Atkinson, Sara Delamont and Amanda Coffey. The series publishes original sociological research that reflects the tradition of qualitative and ethnographic inquiry developed at Cardiff. The series includes monographs reporting on empirical research, edited collections focussing on particular themes, and texts discussing methodological developments and issues.
American society has undergone a revolution within a revolution. Until the 1960s, America was a liberal country in the traditional sense of legislative and executive checks and balances. Since then, the Supreme Court has taken on the role of the protector of individual rights against the will of the majority by creating, in a series of decisions, new rights for criminal defendants, atheists, homosexuals, illegal aliens, and others. Repeatedly, on a variety of cases, the Court has overturned the actions of local police or state laws under which local officials are acting. The result, according to Quirk and Birdwell, is freedom for the lawless and oppression for the law abiding. Judicial Dictatorship challenges the status quo, arguing that in many respects the Supreme Court has assumed authority far beyond the original intent of the Founding Fathers. In order to avoid abuse of power, the three branches of the American government were designed to operate under a system of checks and balances. However, this balance has been upset. The Supreme Court has become the ultimate arbiter in the legal system through exercise of the doctrine of judicial review, which allows the court to invalidate any state or federal law it considers inconsistent with the constitution. Supporters of judicial review believe that there has to be a final arbiter of constitutional interpretation, and the Judiciary is the most suitable choice. Opponents, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln among them, believed that judicial review assumes the judicial branch is above the other branches, a result the Constitution did not intend. The democratic paradox is that the majority in America agreed to limit its own power. Jefferson believed that the will of the majority must always prevail. His faith in the common man led him to advocate a weak national government, one that derived its power from the people. Alexander Hamilton, often Jefferson's adversary, lacking such faith, feared "the amazing violence and turbulence of the democratic spirit." This led him to believe in a strong national government, a social and economic aristocracy, and finally, judicial review. This conflict has yet to be resolved. Judicial Dictatorship discusses the issue of who will decide if government has gone beyond its proper powers. That issue, in turn, depends on whether the Jeffersonian or Hamiltonian view of the nature of the person prevails. In challenging customary ideological alignments of conservative and liberal doctrine, Judicial Dictatorship will be of interest to students and professionals in law, political scientists, and those interested in U.S. history.
Pillars of Justice explores the purpose and possibilities of life in the law through moving accounts of thirteen lawyers who shaped the legal world during the past half century. Some, such as Thurgood Marshall, were Supreme Court Justices. Others, like John Doar and Burke Marshall, set the civil rights policies of the federal government during the 1960s. Some, including Harry Kalven and Catharine MacKinnon, have taught at the greatest law schools of the nation and nourished the liberalism rooted in the civil rights era. Jurists from abroad-Aharon Barak, for example-were responsible for the rise of the human rights movement that today carries the burden of advancing liberal values. These lawyers came from diverse backgrounds and held various political views. What unites them is a deep, abiding commitment to Brown v. Board of Education as an exceptional moment in the life of the law-a willingness to move mountains, if need be, to ensure that we are living up to our best selves. In tracing how these lawyers over a period of fifty years used the Brown ruling and its spirit as a beacon to guide their endeavors, this history tells the epic story of the liberal tradition in the law. For Owen Fiss, one of the country's leading constitutional theorists, the people described were mentors, colleagues, friends. In his portraits, Fiss tries to identify the unique qualities of mind and character that made these individuals so important to the institutions and legal principles they served. |
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