Lawyers, Money, and Success

Retired Justice Macklin Fleming argues that in its quest for money, the legal profession has lost sight of its true responsibilities, with the result that the profession is rife with client dissatisfaction, public distrust, and discontented lawyers. Money is now the measure of success, while honesty is diluted, and fiduciary responsibility continues to erode. Reforms are needed: unless they come first from the firms themselves, lawyers can be sure that they will come from individuals, agencies, and organizations outside these firms. Fleming's provocative book is for those attorneys, clients, and laymen concerned with the future and the integrity of the practice of law. Fleming begins with a paradox: there has been a large increase in lawyers' fees despite a fourfold increase in the number of lawyers and a surge in their proportion of the general population. After tracing the history and dominance of the large corporate law firm, he shows how cost-effectiveness within these large firms has declined while at the same time what he calls "the magic of the emperor's new clothes" has suspended the law of supply and demand for legal services. Fleming outlines the four existing challenges to business-as-usual by lawyers and law firms, and then details the necessary future changes in law firm practice.