Louis D. Brandeis and the Lawyer Advocacy System

The law practice of Louis Brandeis serves as an appropriate vehicle for examining both the history of the legal profession in the United States and the role of lawyers as philanthropists. Brandeis was one of America\u27s most successful and innovative lawyers at the turn of the twentieth century, and serves as a role model for lawyers in his dedication to public service. Brandeis, of course, is best known for his work as a Justice on the United States Supreme Court; however, he is less well known for his work as a lawyer-though he practiced law for 40 years before he was appointed to the Supreme Court and his professional accomplishments were many. In this essay, after a brief description of Brandeis\u27s legal career, presents Brandeis\u27s defense of lawyer advocacy from his MIT Lectures and some qualifications to it that are suggested by his later speeches and law practice

Christian Traditions, Culture, and Law : An Update and A Few Reflections

Using Richard Niebuhr’s description of Christian approaches to culture, this Article examines the way Christians approach law, focusing on developments over the last 20 years. During that time, synthesists have continued to develop natural law, seeking an understanding of law based on shared human goods and reason, an approach that can generate a common approach among people of all faiths and no faith. Conversionists, including those on both the political left and right, argue for changes in law that will reflect Christian understandings of the good. Separatists (including many former conversionists) argue that American culture and law have become so corrupt, materialistic, and hedonistic that Christians should withdraw from public life and focus on developing faithful communities that might be a witness to the world. Dualists argue that though influence in the world requires compromise, Christians should seek positions of leadership and do what they can for the common good. Culturalists have come to reflect the surrounding culture rather than witness to it. During this time, some cultural and political leaders have sought to push Christians from models that seek to influence culture (synthesist and conversionist) into models that do not (separatist, dualist, and culturalist)