Legal Professions at the Crossroads

The book collects research-driven chapters from different disciplines: anthropology, sociology, management, and law. It addresses the issues of legal and administrative professionals' identity, ethics, and workplace enactment. Through an analysis of different groups of lawyers and paralegals, conducted by quantitative or qualitative methods, it draws conclusions on the general condition of these occupations and their role in the society. In particular, the volume covers the issues of criminal judges' roles, the interplay of law and politics in judicial decisions, and the ways they are standardized. It also addresses the topics of professional logic in public administration, as well as charisma and identity work among lawyers, including LLM students from top world programs. Through an analysis of qualitative interviews, it describes the legal workplace, especially in terms of time commitments. It also disputes the problems of professional ethics in everyday legal work.

Contents: Dariusz Jemielniak: Lawyers at the Crossroads - Jadwiga Królikowska/Jaroslaw Utrat-Milecki: The criminal judge in Poland in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, empirical studies - Michal Kaczmarczyk: The Judicial Role between Law and Politics. A Theoretical Analysis - Tomasz Raburski/Maciej Wojciechowski: Standardization of Judicial Opinions: Work of Judges in a Changing Environment - Przemyslaw Hensel/Beata Glinka: Competing Logics And Semi-Professionals In Polish Public Administration - Marta Bucholc: Postmodern Legal Condition: A Charisma In Transition - Malgorzata Joanna Adamczyk: Negotiating What Makes A Lawyer: LLM Students' Self-Perception And The Quest For Professional Identity - Haiyan Zhou: After UIBE LL.M.: A Study of Legal Careers of UIBE LL.M. Graduates - Pawel Krzyworzeka: Structure And Agency In Law Firms: Qualitative Analysis Of Long Work Hours Phenomenon - Pawel Skuczynski: The Problem of Scope of Professionals' Moral Responsibility and Its Applications in Legal Ethics.