Doing Loyalty: Defense Lawyers’ Subtle Dramas in the Courtroom

Abstract

The courtroom work of defense lawyers has received surprisingly little sociological attention. What does a defense lawyer actually do in court? How do defense lawyers represent their client beyond the hard paragraphs of the law? By studying this phenomenon in a context where the scope for expressive gestures is limited, it is possible to gain a greater understanding into the often subtle ways in which legal teamwork is performed. This article draws on ethnographic field notes from courtrooms in Sweden to explore how defense lawyers, who have taken an oath to loyally represent clients, do this using (1) little dramatic productions, (2) little dramatic reductions, and (3) directions of teammates. These strategies are found to involve the use of props and the body in order to perform vicarious face-saving practices necessary to maintain professional face and teamface and to manage face threats. Each of these strategies reproduce and reinforce the emotional regime of the courtroom. A Goffmanian framework is used to show how emotions are managed in the courtroom in order to conform to the emotional regime. The findings therefore show how defense lawyers not only represent their clients juridically but also interactionally and introduces the new term "little dramatic reductions," which is also relevant to other professions involving loyalty and teamwork.

A Sociology of Nothing: Understanding the Unmarked

“…Turning down the volume on an identity performance can enhance its effects, through symbolic gestures of restraint that mediate social presence. Flower (2016) observed the 'little dramatic reductions' (averted eyes, derisory sniffs, turning away) used by defence lawyers in the courtroom to express their scepticism towards the prosecution. The 'less is more' approach also operates in comedy, where dryness, irony and sardonic understatement communicate a message more effectively than blunt, explicit joking (Green 2011).…”

Climate injustice, criminalisation of land protection and anti-colonial solidarity: Courtroom ethnography in an age of fossil fuel violence

“…Many grandmothers spoke about solidarity with Indigenous rights at trials, and about oil and the future for younger generations. Coming to the court was an endeavour to learn, to show solidarity, to see the performance of power in grotesque forms as well as “subtle dramas” ( Flower, 2018 ) with significant and sometimes not-so-subtle meanings, and to talk about what values matters – and what dilemmas exist in framing a “necessity to act” defence. Not all defendants chose to advance such defences, which required substantial paperwork.…”

Tidslojalitet

“…Ytterligare ett exempel är Lisa Flowers (2018) studie om hur försvarsadvokater visar lojalitet till klienter och där tid på olika sätt kan kopplas till lojalitet. Flower beskriver hur hanterandet av tid och lojalitet utgör en balansgång: en advokat måste lägga tid på att vara väl förberedd inför att försvara sin klient, men samtidigt vara vaksam på att inte lägga ner alltför mycket tid på grund av kostnader och för att undvika risken att bli alltför lojal mot klienten (Flower 2018).…”