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This book examines the ethical development of American lawyers against a historical, cultural, and religious backdrop. Goes beyond the rules and statements of professional organizations, such as the American Bar Association, and considers how lawyers actually perceive their responsibility for their communities and the ethical standards of their profession.
"American Lawyers and Their Communities is yet another exemplar of Thomas Shaffer's unique scholarship and insight. He is the most erudite and eloquent of our writers on the community of ethics of lawyers." —Monroe H. Freedman, School of Law, Hofstra University
"Thomas Shaffer is one of this nation's preeminent legal scholars. In the area treated by this book, ethics in the legal profession, he is very possibly our best. His new book is a 'must read' for serious lawyers who are concerned about broader responsibilities of our profession." —Rex E. Lee, President, Brigham Young University
"Thomas Shaffer has written a book about lawyers, but not only for lawyers. He places lawyers within the ethnic and religious communities they inhabit. Still more, Shaffer explores the tradition of the legal community itself-seeking to reconstitute and refine the image of the lawyer as 'gentleman,' provocatively setting that image over against the idea of the lawyer as 'professional,' and, ultimately, proving even the religious dimensions of the image. . . this is a rich book-rich in its ability to entertain and inform through the many stories it tells and traces, rich also in its capacity to stimulate a reader to moral and theological argument and reflection." —Gilbert Meilaender, Oberlin College
". . . a thoughtful exploration of the American legal profession's ethical foundations. Although lawyers are accustomed to examining legal ethics by studying cases concerning proper behavioral choices for attorneys, Shaffer and Shaffer avoid this traditional approach in favor of analysis of underlying ethical moorings that guide American attorneys." —Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
"Shaffer takes seriously the claim that the activity of being a lawyer is deeply situated in the contexts and forms of ordinary life, so he looks seriously and deeply at the cultural and religious communities from which we lawyers spring. The results are both surprising and enlightening." —Thomas D. Eisele, College of Law, University of Tennessee
Mary Shaffer assisted in the research, interviewing, and writing of chapters five through seven.
Thomas Shaffer is the Robert and Marion Short Professor Emeritus of Law.