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Thursday, April 17, 2025
A Course on "The Legal Profession"
A million years ago, when I was in law school, I took a course, taught by David Luban, called "The Legal Profession" (which, thanks to some Yale Law School magic, satisfied a professional-responsibility requirement although it was not, at all, about "the rules" of P.R.). We read Luban's Lawyers and Justice, Ishiguro's Remains of the Day, Galanter's Tournament of Lawyers, some books about the evolution of the profession and the rise of big law firms, a book about Skadden, and -- providentially for me! -- some articles by a fascinating scholar who would become my colleague at Notre Dame, Tom Shaffer. And some other things.
I've long wanted to teach a class like this, i.e., a course that I could hold out as satisfying our P.R. requirement but that was really more about "Lawyers and Society." Has anyone taken, or taught, a class like this?
Posted by Rick Garnett on April 17, 2025 at 02:10 PM in Rick Garnett, Teaching Law | Permalink
Comments
All that is Ethical, True, Beautiful, and Good, comes from God, Who Is, In Essence Perfect Life-affirming and Life-sustaining Divine Eternal Love.
Josh, to note that if a King or Kings corrupts the spirit of the law, or a president or presidents for that matter, denies the spirit of the law, as in , for example, a United States President or Presidents, denying
The Spirit Of The Constitution Of The United States Of America, they are still considered validly elected, from we the people, and yet, if a Pope were to deny The Spirit Of The Law residing in The Deposit Of Faith, prior to his election to the Papacy, it would be evidence enough that his election could not have possibly been valid. I suppose you could say that while The Deposit Of Faith , which Christ Himself Has Entrusted to His Church for the Salvation of Souls, is grounded in God’s Perfect Life-affirming and Life-sustaining Eternal Truth Of Perfect Eternal Love, In The Unity Of The Holy Ghost, our Constitution, although claiming to declare the self-evident truth that all mankind (as in members of the human race), have been Created by their Creator God, with the capital G, Equal in Dignity, while being complementary as a beloved son or daughter, the spirit of our Constitution, once you take God out of the equation, becomes merely relative to what ever we decide we want it to be.
When the freedom to be creative becomes the freedom to create oneself, then necessarily the Maker himself is denied and ultimately man too is stripped of his dignity as a creature of God, as the image of God at the core of his being. The defence of the family is about man himself. And it becomes clear that when God is denied, human dignity also disappears. Whoever defends God is defending man.” – Pope Benedict’s Christmas Address 2012
suppose you could say, as in “A Man For All Seasons’, it is “about the Marriage”
In Heaven and on Earth. Only The True God Of Perfect Life-affirming and Life-sustaining Eternal Divine Love , could have both the Ability and Desire to raise human persons from death into The Joy Of Eternal Happiness with God and God’s Beloved in Heaven , and although at the end of the Day, it may still be a Great Mystery as to how God Created The Universe, and simply beyond our comprehension, it is no Mystery that we exist because God, The Communion Of Perfect Eternal Divine Love Exists
One can only be true to the spirit of the Law of our Constitution, if we are true to The Spirit Of The Law Of Nature’s God, with the capital G, by rendering onto Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God, The Author Of Love, Of Life, And Of Marriage, what belongs to God. We know this because every time we have denied our founding Judeo Christian principles, we have suffered greatly, both individually and as One Nation , Under God, and thus Indivisible, With Liberty And Justice For All.
At the heart of Liberty Is Christ, “4For it is impossible for those who were once illuminated, have tasted also the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5Have moreover tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come…”, to not believe that Christ’s Sacrifice On The Cross will lead us to Salvation, but we must desire forgiveness for our sins, and accept Salvational Love, God’s Gift Of Grace And Mercy; believe in The Power And The Glory Of Salvation Love, and rejoice in the fact that No Greater Love Is There Than This, To Desire Salvation For One’s Beloved. “Hail The Cross, Our Only Hope.” “Blessed are they who are Called to The Marriage Supper Of The Lamb.” “For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”
God Bless us, one and all✝️💕🌹🙏
Posted by: ND | Apr 25, 2025 1:51:48 PM
Orin - I emailed my former teacher Bob Gordon to ask for his syllabus! =-)
Posted by: Rick Garnett | Apr 19, 2025 6:17:27 PM
Thanks for the info on Remains of the Day. It’s one of my favorite books. I think the connection to legal ethics is quite a stretch, but still an amazing book.
A very good legal-related film is “A Man for All Seasons”. Shows how a king can corrupt the courts to get his way.
Posted by: Josh | Apr 19, 2025 3:23:53 PM
Of possible relevance:
https://law.stanford.edu/courses/the-american-legal-profession/
Posted by: Orin S Kerr | Apr 19, 2025 3:14:01 PM
My colleague Tom McSweeney (W&M) teaches a very popular course along these lines.
Posted by: Laura Heymann | Apr 18, 2025 11:13:51 PM
There is a crucial episode in the book in which the pro-Nazi Lord Darlington orders Stevens, the head butler, to fire two Jewish refugees from Germany, who had been hired as housemaids by Miss Kenton. Stevens goes along with it even though he thinks it is a terrible thing to do. After all, he is a "gentleman's gentleman," obligated to pursue Darlington's objectives. This is the same dilemma lawyers face, if it is a dilemma.
Miss Kenton, who would have been Stevens's love interest, if he had allowed himself any personal life, is outraged and threatens to quit. But she relents and stays when Stevens shares his distress about the firings.
Posted by: Steven Lubet | Apr 18, 2025 4:36:32 PM
Josh, the idea was (and it seemed really plausible to me) Ishiguro's book really presses hard on the idea (and its limits) of "role morality" -- "my station and its duties" -- and that it is good for lawyers to think about its risks and dangers.
Posted by: Rick Garnett | Apr 18, 2025 3:32:07 PM
How did Remains of the Day relate to the law?
Posted by: Josh | Apr 18, 2025 3:25:06 PM
Get in touch with Bob Hirshon (you should be able to locate him through the ABA). Bob taught a wonderful course along the lines you are considering at Michigan for a number of years. I was fortunate enough to be a guest lecturer for him several time.
Posted by: Doug Richmond | Apr 18, 2025 10:57:52 AM
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