A Nation under Lawyers,   ISBN:9780674601383

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Harvard Law prof Mary Ann Glendon has written a fine book on a theme near and dear to my heart: the joys of the common law and the need to return to it. It's been described as a bit short on solutions, but perhaps those critics don't know that common law generates solutions as it goes.

This book is in some ways a "prequel" to Deborah Rhode's excellent _In the Interests of Justice_. I highly recommend that anyone interested in one of them get the other one too.

Glendon, also the author of _Rights Talk_, includes some nice treats in this work. For one thing, there's a lot of gentle debunking of the view that law practice ever enjoyed a "golden age." Glendon has a keen awareness of the fact that this "golden age" was in fact an age of rich white people's old-boys clubs and the much-vaunted "professionalism" of the period had the effect (not entirely unintended) of keeping racial and religious minorities, as well as women, out of the profession altogether (or at least driving them into the less prestigious areas of the law).

She also has some important words on the (related) hypocrisy of the legal profession's opposition to "commercialism." Her own view is that genuine commercialism carries with it a commitment to honesty and fairness; the predominant view among the bar associations, at least, seems to be that when you're acting "commercially," anything goes. Those of us who want the legal profession to act professional would do well to heed Glendon here and stop denouncing the market for the sins of those who don't understand it.

There are also some engaging reminiscences about the late great Karl Llewellyn, one of the most prominent legal scholars of the twentieth century and chief architect of the Uniform Commercial Code. Glendon infects the reader, as she herself was infected, with Llewellyn's love of the common-law tradition and the power of judge-made law.

Nor have I exhausted everything this book has to offer. Suffice it to say, by way of conclusion, that Glendon turns in a nice analysis of the changes the legal profession has undergone over the last few decades.

A fine book all around, then -- and incidentally a nice companion to Philip Howard's _The Death of Common Sense_. Howard, too, would like to see a move away from the hyperregulatory state and toward the empowerment of the common-law judge; Glendon's book is complementary to his in some ways. Readers of one will probably enjoy the other.

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Prof. Glendon provides a fresh look at the crisis of faith in the legal community through a survey of the recent history of the bar, the bench and the academy. "A Nation Under Lawyers" urges lawyers, judges and law professors alike to examine their consciences and try to appreciate the beauty of the lawyer's craft and the common law. Though the common law tradition is not perfect, Prof. Glendon suggests that it is the combined experience, understanding and judgment of many generations of jurists. Activist judges, critical legal theorists and disheartened practitioners would all do well to heed Prof. Glendon's words and find new heart in the never-ending work of building a stronger common law tradition. Written in a manner accessible to attorneys and non-attorneys alike, "A Nation Under Lawyers" provides a solid survey of recent academic and legal debates for every reader, but is especially helpful -- indeed, essential -- to every student contemplating a life in the law.