Steven J. Harper, "The Lawyer Bubble: A Profession in Crisis" (Basic Books, 2013)

Summary

A friend of mine who had just graduated from law school said "Law school is great. The trouble is that when you are done you're a lawyer." Steven J. Harper would, after a fashion, agree (though he would probably add that law schools are not that great). Harper's book, The Lawyer Bubble: A Profession in Crisis (Basic Books, 2013), is a stem-to-stern indictment of legal education and the legal profession; he argues that the entire system by which we train and employ (or don't employ) attorneys is broken. Honesty, humility, and public service are out; "truthiness," hubris, and greed are in. The very idea of what it means to be a lawyer has been corrupted. Happily, Harper has some suggestions about how we might reform the legal industry. This is a terrific and thought provoking book.

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Marshall Poe

Marshall Poe is the founder and editor of the New Books Network. He can be reached at marshallpoe@newbooksnetwork.com.

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