American Lawyers and Their Communities

Ethics in the Legal Profession

Thomas L. Shaffer with Mary M. Shaffer

This book examines the ethical development of American lawyers against a historical, cultural, and religious backdrop. Shaffer goes beyond the rules and statements of professional organizations, such as the American Bar Association, and deals with the question of how an American lawyer defines being a “good” person in the context of the community the lawyer comes from, returns to, and identifies with.

Reviews

“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

”...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