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Canceling Lawyers: Case Studies of Accountability, Toleration, and Regret

Canceling Lawyers: Case Studies of Accountability, Toleration, and Regret

Author: W. Bradley Wendel
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780197673423
Published In: April 2025
Format: Hardback
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Description
Contents

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Lawyers take pride in a professional tradition of representing unpopular clients, understanding it as a contribution to the rule of law and the practice of toleration in a polarized society. This does not mean that lawyers are fully insulated from criticism for the clients they represent. The seemingly intractable debate over accountability for representing nasty clients is in part the result of a deep, structural tension between the institutions and procedures of the legal system, and the underlying issues and controversies about which people disagree. We also care about the attitudes and motives of lawyers, which play an important role in evaluating the actions of others.

Much of the frustration experienced by lawyers who are criticized for representing unpopular clients arises from what lawyers see as the public's inability to understand the rule of law and the function of the legal system in resolving conflicts over rights and justice. Using a series of case studies, this book explores the possibility that both lawyers and their critics are right. There is genuine value in a system of formal law that aims at settling social disagreement, but that is not the whole story. Public criticism of lawyers may reflect the sense that the legal system has fallen short of ideals of fairness and inclusiveness.

Many of the lawyer shaming or "canceling" episodes discussed in this book arise out of the representation of clients in matters involving issues where it appears that the official process of establishing and interpreting formal law has been captured by powerful interests. Accepting a certain amount of public criticism is necessary to avoid a dangerous isolation of the legal profession from accountability to the broader political community, or from the humanity of lawyers being submerged by their professional role.

Preface

1. Swiss Banks and Nazi Gold

Crisis at Cravath

Against nonaccountability

The justification of John Adams

The Freedman-Tigar debate

“Ethics rules” and client choice . for American lawyers

Contested meanings

2. Morality and Relationships: Accountability and Reactive Attitudes

Morality beyond duties and rights

Reactive attitudes

Reactive attitudes and reasonable expectations