Over the past several decades, the number of lawyers in large cities has doubled, women have entered the bar at an unprecedented rate, and the scale of firms has greatly expanded. This immense growth has transformed the nature and social structure of the legal profession. In the most comprehensive analysis of the urban bar to date, Urban Lawyers presents a compelling portrait of how these changes continue to shape the field of law today. Drawing on extensive interviews with Chicago lawyers, the authors demonstrate how developments in the profession have affected virtually every aspect of the work and careers of urban lawyers-their relationships with clients, job tenure and satisfaction, income, social and political values, networks of professional connections, and patterns of participation in the broader community. Yet despite the dramatic changes, much remains the same. Stratification of income and power based on gender, race, and religious background, for instance, still maintains inequality within the bar. The authors of Urban Lawyers conclude that organizational priorities will likely determine the future direction of the legal profession. And with this landmark study as their guide, readers will be able to make their own informed predictions.

The national quarterly on local government law.

The legal rights of Americans are threatened as never before. In No Contest, Ralph Nader and Wesley J. Smith reveal how power lawyers--Kenneth Starr perhaps the most notorious among them--misuse and manipulate the law at the expense of fairness and equity. Nader and Smith document how corporate lawyers File baseless lawsuits Use court secrecy to their unfair advantage Engage in billing fraud Nader and Smith sound the warning that this system-wide abuse is eroding our basic legal rights, and propose a positive, commonsense vision of what should be done to reverse the corporate-inspired corruption of civil justice. Timely, incisive, and highly readable, this is a book for all citizens who believe that prompt access to justice is the backbone of democracy, and a precious right to be reclaimed.

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.

How do lawyers resolve ethical dilemmas in the everyday context of their practice? What are the issues that commonly arise, and how do lawyers determine the best ways to resolve them? Until recently, efforts to answer these questions have focused primarily on rules and legal doctrine rather than the real-life situations lawyers face in legal practice. The first book to present empirical research on ethical decision making in a variety of practice contexts, including corporate litigation, securities, immigration, and divorce law, Lawyers in Practice fills a substantial gap in the existing literature. Following an introduction emphasizing the increasing importance of understanding context in the legal profession, contributions focus on ethical dilemmas ranging from relatively narrow ethical issues to broader problems of professionalism, including the prosecutor’s obligation to disclose evidence, the management of conflicts of interest, and loyalty to clients and the court. Each chapter details the resolution of a dilemma from the practitioner’s point of view that is, in turn, set within a particular community of practice. Timely and practical, this book should be required reading for law students as well as students and scholars of law and society.

Sharing economy lawyers make the exploding numbers of social enterprises, cooperatives, urban farms, local currencies, and the vast array of unique organizations arising from the sharing economy possible and legal. This essential guide will guide the practicing lawyer through areas of law they need to be familiar with from drafting agreements to employment regulations and managing intellectual property and risk.

Anyone with an interest in this icon of our law and public policy should not miss this excellent book. -- Washington Post Book World.

Magic, Monsters and Murder! An urban fantasy legal thriller you can sink your teeth into. "If a miracle happens and I somehow manage to kill this vampire psychopath, my prize is the chance to save a girl, and become one of twenty-four Advocates who decide and enforce the laws that govern the millions of monsters that roam the earth eating babies for breakfast. I imagine they're not going to be too happy about having a human as a member of their club. Screw my life. How did I get myself into this?" As a San Francisco Public Defender, Colt Valentine has just about seen and heard it all. That is until he has a meeting with a well-dressed man claiming to be a sixteen-hundred-year-old vampire who tells him that vampires, witches, and shifters are not only living among us, but have their own legal system. Colt, of course, thinks this guy is crazy until he's shown a video of a family being savagely murdered by a monster he never imagined existed ... not even in his darkest nightmares. Nothing is above the law ... not even monsters! "Just another routine day at the office, absolutely nothing out of the ordinary-other than the fact that the judge has a giant scorpion tail, the defense attorney's a vampire, and the defendant's a werespider who would very much like to rip my head off and drink me dry." Colt is a great trial lawyer, trained by the best, but even he begins to doubt himself as he is immersed in this dark world of magic, monsters, and murder. Colt tries to balance his old life with his new life, while struggling to obtain justice under a set of arcane laws that govern a society that views humans as nothing more than their next meal. The worst part of his new job is that, if he loses, he could lose more than just a trial, he could lose his life. Reader's love Colt Valentine!"Great book. Can't wait for the next one. Wonderful book. The narrative is engaging and moved the story ahead at a brisk pace. Look forward to reading the further adventurous of Colt Valentine." - Ginzain ★★★★★ "Please hurry up and write more! I really loved the mix of humor/banter between characters, the lawyer's approach and court drama, the "door" hopping, the plethora of "monsters" and the fact that this could, and should, be the first of a long list of "Advocate" clients, either human or not!" - M. Flinders ★★★★★ "I love this book! I really enjoyed this story. Once I started reading, I could not stop. It is very well written and it is easy to read. Very enjoyable. I hope the author has more books very soon. I would recommend this to anyone!" - Verified Amazon Customer ★★★★★ "Love Colt Valentine! Colt Valentine is the next great urban fantasy anti-hero in the vein of Harry Dresden, Owen Zastava Pitt, Remy Chandler, Alex Verus, and Atticus O'Sullivan. I read a lot of fantasy and this one is definitely worth reading." - C. Sant ★★★★★ "One of my top 10 favorite books! This was my first urban fantasy book in which the lawyer is the hero. And what a lawyer! Colt is one witty smartass. He has a remark to everything, a really snarky but funny one so I caught myself laughing out loud when he said something like that. There are other characters in the book as well like a goofy-but-in-a-funny-way investigator Wilson, a computer geek called Joycee and a, who knows how years old, vampire called Sinn. I love even her name because it suits her so much. I hope to get to know her more in future books." - A. Szabó ★★★★★