For over a decade the reigning public view of the United States' legal establishment has been a negative one. In many quarters the civil justice system is viewed as a miasma of opportunistic self-seeking and a menace to America's economic well-being. Much of the animosity is focused on lawyers as the authors, proprietors and chief beneficiaries of that system. When it comes to lawyer-bashing, there is not much new under the sun. Hostility toward lawyers is a perennial. Yet its expressions vary greatly. There is a great cultural repertoire of anti-lawyer observations and sentiments.2 At any time one or another grievance may gain prominence. The changes in fashion are not random, but are part of wider changes in sensibilities. I propose to examine the distinctive anti-lawyerism of the present to see what it tells us about our legal system, our society, and ourselves.
Bibliographic Citation
Lawrence M. Friedman and Harry N. Scheiber, eds., Legal Culture and the Legal Profession Boulder, CO: Westview Press (1996) pp. 79-118
