Reading room
Law & the legal profession
Pat Finucane was a solicitor, and the threats against lawyers who represent unpopular clients run through his story. This section looks at the legal profession more widely: how judges reach the bench, how lawyers are disciplined, and what the job does to the people in it.
- Affinity groups in legal departments: what they do and the legal limitsWhat affinity or employee resource groups do inside corporate legal departments, the evidence on retention and performance, and the legal limits after 2023.
- Black women on the federal bench after Ketanji Brown JacksonKetanji Brown Jackson became the first Black woman on the US Supreme Court in 2022, yet Black women remain fewer than 2% of all federal judges ever appointed.
- Can hybrid work help close the gender gap in law firms?Why flexible and hybrid working is argued to help women stay and advance in law firms, what the research shows about attrition, and the risks critics point to.
- How Pennsylvania elects Court of Common Pleas judgesHow judges reach the Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania counties such as Chester County: partisan elections, cross-filing, ten-year terms and retention votes.
- How city court judges are chosen in MontanaHow municipal and city court judges are selected in Montana cities such as Bozeman, what these courts handle, and why growing cities add judgeships.
- How judges in Canada are disciplined for what they say in courtHow complaints about Canadian judges' remarks in court are handled by provincial judicial councils and the Canadian Judicial Council, and what can result.
- How legal directory rankings work, and how to read an M&A 'top lawyers' listWhat lawyer rankings such as ALB, Chambers and Legal 500 actually measure, how firms make submissions, and what a 'top 15 M&A lawyers' list can and cannot tell you.
- How the Florida Supreme Court disciplines lawyersHow lawyer discipline works in Florida: the Florida Bar's investigation, referees, the sanctions available, and why the Supreme Court announces discipline in batches.
- John Eastman and Jeffrey Clark: the legal consequences after 2020What happened to lawyers John Eastman and Jeffrey Clark after their 2020 election work for Donald Trump: bar discipline, charges, pardons and appeals.
- Keeping big projects moving: dispute boards, mediation and arbitrationHow big construction and infrastructure projects use dispute boards, mediation and arbitration to settle disagreements without stopping work.
- Kerala High Court orders vaccine priority for lawyers and clerks (2021)How the Kerala High Court directed the state in June 2021 to put practising lawyers and their clerks on the Covid-19 vaccination priority list, and why it mattered.
- Lateral partner moves between big law firms: how they workWhy partners move between large law firms such as Sidley and Kirkland, what the professional rules say about taking clients, and how firms check conflicts.
- Lawyers on nonprofit boards: the benefits and the ethicsWhy lawyers often join the boards of local arts groups and charities, and the professional conduct questions it raises about conflicts and acting as the board's lawyer.
- Losing a loved one in a car crash in Florida: how wrongful death claims workHow Florida's Wrongful Death Act works after a fatal car crash: who can claim, what can be recovered, the two-year deadline and the 2023 changes.
- Milton Raiford, DA Stephen Zappala and the 2021 plea-deal disputeHow a Pittsburgh lawyer's courtroom criticism of racism led Allegheny County's DA to bar plea offers to his clients in 2021, the reaction, and the policy's reversal.
- Overwork, health and the law: what the evidence and working-time rules sayWhat research says about long working hours and health, including a 2021 WHO-ILO estimate, and how laws in Europe and Japan try to limit overwork.
- Succession planning for small law firmsHow small and regional law firms plan for the retirement or death of senior lawyers, why it matters to clients, and what law societies require or recommend.
- The 2021 attack on the Islamabad High Court and the discipline of lawyersWhat happened when lawyers stormed the Islamabad High Court on 8 February 2021, how the court suspended and restored licences, and the role of bar councils.
- The Supreme Court arguments over Texas SB 8, 1 November 2021What the US Supreme Court heard on 1 November 2021 about Texas's SB 8 abortion law, who argued, what the Court decided in December, and what Dobbs changed.
- What being named a 'Super Lawyer' meansHow peer-recognition lists such as Super Lawyers select lawyers, what percentage are named, and the professional rules on how lawyers may advertise such honours.
- Why legal aid programmes are argued over, and what the evidence saysThe case for and against publicly funded legal aid, what happened when England and Wales cut it in 2013, and why access to lawyers matters in inquests and inquiries.
- Women in law awards: what career-recognition honours measureWhat awards recognising women lawyers and whole careers in law are meant to do, how they are judged, and how to tell a meaningful honour from a marketing exercise.
- Women lawyers report more stress and risky drinking: what the 2021 study foundFindings of the 2021 PLOS ONE study of nearly 2,900 US lawyers on stress, hazardous drinking and attrition, and why women were more likely to consider leaving law.