Lawyers for Conservative Causes: Clients, Ideology, and Social Distance

Abstract

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Lawyers of the Right: Networks and Organization

“…There is little variation by gender. Only five of the interviewed lawyers were women, but few of the lawyers who serve conservative causes are women, and even fewer women are present in the ranks of the most prominent of these lawyers (Heinz et al 2003). Overall, the seventy‐two respondents in the sample may be characterized as senior lawyers affiliated with conservative organizations engaged in domestic policy debates.…”

“…Because this question was not included in the initial interviews, we have these data for fifty‐nine respondents. The names on the list of notables were selected through extensive prior research on the conservative movement (see Heinz et al 2003) and through consultation with knowledgeable informants in the field. All of the notables are prominent lawyers who worked for one of the eighty‐six organizations.…”

“…They participate in creating and maintaining the organizations and represent them where law and public policy are made—in courts, legislatures, agencies, and the media (Southworth 2005). Lawyers’ positions in these organizations allow them to influence the building of alliances, but lawyers for social conservatives and lawyers for business interests occupy different social worlds (Heinz, Paik, and Southworth 2003). The recent controversy over the aborted nomination of Harriet Miers for a seat on the Supreme Court demonstrates that the varying constituencies on the conservative side of the political spectrum may fail to present a united front, even when the stakes are high (Liasson 2005; Ponnuru 2005).…”

What Clients Know: Client perspectives and legal competence

“…40 Some recent work on more conservative ''cause lawyers'' also demonstrates some element of social distance. 41 There are a number of ways of interpreting this paradox.…”

‘The first legal profession’ of New France in jeopardy or revival?: history and futures of the Québec notariat

“…Lawyers also play a significant role in transnational politics (Cohen, 2007;Garth, 2006;Sacriste & Vauchez, 2007) and the international human rights agenda (Madsen, 2007;Ivković & Hagan, 2006). Lawyers further participate actively through political positions of power (Scholzman & Tierney, 1985;Walker, 1983), appointments to boards of corporations (Priest & Rothman, 1985;Shapiro, 2002), and service to conservative organizations (Heinz et al, 2003). Scholarship has also delved into 'cause' lawyering aimed at law reform (Sarat, 1998;Sarat & Scheingold, 1998), social justice (Menkel-Meadow, 1998;Trubek & Kransberger, 1998), and left activism (Scheingold, 1998).…”