Trials and error : litigation and the morality of the law / C. Elaine Dunbar.

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Microformat

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Dunbar, C. Elaine.

Contributor:

Bershady, Harold, advisor.

University of Pennsylvania.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Penn dissertations--Sociology.

Sociology--Penn dissertations.

Local Subjects:

Penn dissertations--Sociology.

Sociology--Penn dissertations.

Physical Description:

iv, 142 pages ; 29 cm

Production:

1998.

Summary:

The American legal profession has been the subject of analysis throughout the nation's history. In the mid-1800's Alex de Tocqueville noted,

In (the United States) we easily perceive how the legal profession is qualified by its attributes, and even by its faults, to neutralize the vices inherent in popular government. When the American people are intoxicated by passion, or carried away by the impetuosity of their ideas, they are checked and stopped by the almost invisible influence of their legal counselors.$\sp1$

This work offers a contemporary view of the profession from the "legal counselors" themselves. The attributes and the faults of the profession from the perspective of litigators and judges are offered in their own words. Experienced litigators and judges describe professional standards of conduct, the duties and the aspirations, as they teach law school students in a nationally ranked trial advocacy program. They ask and answer questions such as: "What is competent representation?" "What duty do you owe your client?" and "When do you 'take on' a judge?" The answers to these questions are relevant not only to the individual whose dispute is litigated in court, but also to the American public. Litigators stress to students the imperative to win for their client. They describe rare instances when individual integrity was compromised or the law was subverted in pursuit of this goal. They more often express their desire to serve the truth and to seek justice. Litigators and some defenders of the court system contend that justice results when two equally matched advocates meet in the courtroom. Other litigators and judges stress the duty to thoroughly prepare at the same time they are aware that thorough preparation will not guarantee a just verdict. Serious inequities can still exist. Both the duties and the aspirations of litigators and judges are described in this ethnography providing primary source material to inform the ongoing debate over the relationship between the American people and their legal counselors. ftn$\sp1$Tocqueville, 127.

Notes:

Adviser: Harold Bershady.

Thesis (Ph.D. in Sociology) -- University of Pennsylvania, 1998.

Includes bibliographical references.

University Microfilms order no.: 98-29894.

OCLC:

187469856