Transforming the Practice of Law: Reclaiming the Soul of the Legal Profession

This book presents a thoughtful, in-depth analysis of the current state of the legal profession in the United States. Many lawyers are experiencing profound distress and dissatisfaction in their professional lives and public esteem for the legal profession has fallen to an all-time low. The author describes how the current state of affairs results from a combination of factors, including the nature of legal education, the emergence of zealous representation as a guiding principle for the behavior of lawyers, and the commercialization of the private practice of law. The book also contains the author's suggestions for specific steps that can be taken to guide the profession to a path that leads to a better destination, where lawyers find meaning and fulfillment in their professional lives and where the legal profession is held once again in high regard by the society it serves. The author is an experienced lawyer who built a successful private law firm practice and then, as Assistant General Counsel in the legal department of a Fortune 100 company, hired and led teams of lawyers handling major litigation all over the country.