Analysis of The Legal Profession Research Paper

Analysis of The Legal Profession - Research Paper Example Several factors have to lead to these changes including debates on whether the legal profession has become more inclined on the commercialism aspect, rather than professionalism. According to Richard Susskind’s article ‘Legal profession is on the brink of fundamental change’, he views that: â€Å"The challenge is not to assess how commoditization and IT might threaten the current work of lawyers so that the traditional ways can be protected and changed avoided. It is to find and embrace better, quicker, less costly, more convenient and publicly valued ways of working.’2 In discussing commercialism, one view is: What was remarkable this time was that the leadership of the organized bar made commercialism a central concern of its rhetoric about declining professionalism and that the resulting crusade struck such a responsive chord among the bar as a whole. ‘In the past, progressive jurists and liberal law professors have chastised the bar for becoming more of a business than a learned, public-oriented profession, and leaders of the bar have sometimes pointed out that a few lawyers (â€Å"ambulance chasers†) have succumbed to the profit motive.’3 However, despite this negative perception of the legal profession, many young students are drawn to the profession of traditional lawyering because of the prestige and honor attributed to full-fledged lawyers, knowing that they can serve the community and the country for humanitarian causes. II. Duties and Responsibilities The legal profession covers several responsibilities for the practicing or supervising lawyer, paralegals, legal assistants or law students. The legal profession is considered teamwork composed of lawyers, paralegals, legal researchers, and the legal staff. In order for a law firm to succeed in every case assigned to it, their lawyers must be able to present well- researched and valid defenses in asserting their claims during the trial proper or when filin g complaints. The secret to winning in the legal battlefield requires tedious concentration by putting time and effort in the rigorous work of research, interviews, and gathering of evidence. These tasks cannot be delegated to the lawyer alone. An attorney needs all the help he can get from paralegals and legal assistants working with him to build up the pieces of evidence needed for every case. It is expected the lawyers delegate some of their responsibilities to a paralegal or legal assistant in order to concentrate during the presentation of evidence in court or conducting interviews with the clients. Hence, it is a given fact that a lawyer’s success in every litigation case that he handles is attributed to the impeccable research work and above reproach investigative skills his or her paralegal or a legal assistant.