343 research outputs found
Professionalism Without Parochialism: Julius Henry Cohen, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, and the Stories of Two Sons
Professor Levine addresses the question of whether the practice of law a business or a profession and looks at sources where practitioners might draw inspiration for ethical behaviors. He examines two works: a 1916 book by Julius Henry Cohen - The Law: Business or Profession?; and a tale by Chasidic master Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. Both works tell the story of two sons from two different fathers with different ethical natures that manifest in their different choices of and approaches to their careers. Professor Levine uses these two parables to suggest that a more inclusive question than those posed above: whether the true measure of an individual\u27s societal value is more a function of personal character than it is of professional status. This question inherently requires the rejection of two notions: first, that the practice of law properly sits on a pedestal placing it above other money- making professions; and second, that those who practice law are worthy of respect simply due to their membership in the legal profession. The parochialism referred to in the title is that of looking only within the confines of the legal profession for guidelines to ethical practice, eschewing members of other occupations, situations outside the workplace, and one\u27s own religious beliefs or value systems. Looking farther afield than the legal profession for ethical guidance encourages the development of an ethical view that has application in all aspects of one\u27s life so that one does not have one set of behaviors while in the office and another set of behaviors while in a house of worship. Development of this unitary ethical approach might go some way to healing the division that lawyers often feel between their professional and personal lives
The Lawyer\u27s Role in a Contemporary Democracy, Tensions Between Various Conceptions of the Lawyer\u27s Role, Rethinking the Legal Reform Agenda: Will Raising the Standards for Bar Admission Promote or Undermine Democracy, Human Rights, and Rule of Law?
Foreword to the Conference: The Law: Business or Profession? The Continuing Relevance of Julius Henry Cohen for the Practice of Law in the Twenty-First Century
The Framing Effects of Professionalism: Is There a Lawyer Cast of Mind? Lessons from Compliance Programs
Professionals working inside companies may bring with them frames of mind set by their professional experience and socialization. Lawyers, in particular, are said to think like a lawyer -to have a lawyer cast of mind. In seeking power within a company and in exercising the power that they obtain, professionals may draw on their professional background to frame, name, diagnose, and prescribe a remedy for the company\u27s problems. In making decisions about their compliance with the law, companies are constrained not only by their environment, but also by their agents\u27 understanding of whose (or what) interests the company should serve. In particular, compliance managers\u27 understandings will frame and influence their companies\u27 calculations of the value, benefits, and costs of compliance activities. The profession of the compliance manager then may influence how the company complies with the law. This Article uses data from a survey of 999 large Australian businesses to examine the professional background of the person in charge of compliance and (1) how they analyze the costs, benefits and risks of non-compliance; and (2) their company\u27s structures and practices of compliance. Contrary to our hypotheses, we find that the professional background of the individual responsible for compliance has little impact on a company\u27s compliance management structures and practices or assessment of stakeholders. The exceptions are that having a lawyer in charge of compliance is associated with the company\u27s perception of heightened legal risk; and where the person in charge of compliance is a lawyer, the company compliance efforts will be marked by manuals and training programs, but not more fulsome compliance structures, which are present when a compliance specialist leads the department. Unfortunately, our data also reveals that these compliance structures are generally merely formal-and likely largely symbolic
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