Too many lawyers? Or should lawyers be doing other things?

Abstract

This paper from the Symposium/Conference at Onati on Too Many Lawyers? suggests that there are not too many lawyers, nor too much legal education. Instead we should think about what legal education is 'good' for (what should those with a legal education do?), including problem solving, dispute resolution and reallocation of legal services for those underserved. The paper looks at how other professions (business consulting and architecture) have reframed themselves for new conditions of work -with varying supply and demand changes in their relevant fields. The paper also discusses implications for legal education of a broader conception of what lawyers learn and do.

High performers are not superheroes: bridging exclusive and inclusive talent management approaches for law firm sustainability

“…Further worsening the scenario, the Legal Services Act of 2007, which allows non-lawyers to own and run law businesses, increased competition from nonlawyer providers (Stevens, 2012). Big consulting firms are now beginning to adopt a multidisciplinary approach (Menkel-Meadow, 2012).…”

Is access to the profession access to justice? Lessons from Canada

“…Several jurisdictions have experimented, or are in the process of experimenting, with such reformulations, most notably England, in which non-lawyer investments in law-firms will now be permitted, and the giant retailer Tesco has announced its intention to open up such legal shops (Sherr, 2012;Menkel-Meadow, 2012). In other jurisdictions, such as Israel, the classification of certain activities as legal and therefore the exclusive domain of the legal profession has been the subject of diligent litigation by the Israeli Law Society (Ziv, 2012).…”

Barriers to the Profession: Inaction in Ontario, Canada and its Consequences

“…Finally, and returning to the paralegal example with which we opened this section, there are of course solutions that involve the re-definition of the legal profession, or the re-definition of activities that are limited to members of the profession, or the narrow application of "unauthorized practice of law" (UPL) rules in a manner that would open up such activities to broad societal participation. Several jurisdictions have experimented, or are in the process of experimenting, with such reformulations, most notably England, in which non-lawyer investments in lawf i r m s w i l l n o w b e p e r m i t t e d , a n d t h e g i a n t r e t a i l e r T e s c o h a s a n n o u n c e d i t s intention to open up such legal shops (Sherr, Thomson 2013, Menkel-Meadow 2013. In other jurisdictions, such as Israel, the classification of certain activities as legal and therefore the exclusive domain of the legal profession has been the subject of diligent litigation by the Israeli Law Society (Ziv 2013, S e c t i o n 4 ).…”