Lawyers, the State and the Market: Professionalism Revisited

228 Pages·1999·23.089 MB·English

by  Gerard Hanlon (auth.)

LAWYERS, THE STATE AND THE MARKET
Also by Gerard Hanlon
THE COMMERCIALISATION OF ACCOUNTANCY
Lawyers, the State
and the Market
Professionalism Revisited
Gerard Hanlon
~
t\L\C~11 LL \N
Business
© Gerard Hanlon 1999
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 18t edition 1999
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the
provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under
the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the
Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road,
London W1P 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims
for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified as
the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 1999 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS
and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
ISBN 978-1-349-14688-8 ISBN 978-1-349-14686-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-14686-4
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from
fully managed and sustained forest sources.
10987654321
08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99
For J en and September 6
Contents
List of Tables x
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xiii
1 A Crisis of Social Democracy? Professionalism
and Flexible Accumulation 1
The Market or Social Democracy? 2
Emergence of Global Fordism 3
Social Citizenship, Professionalism and the Fordist
Regime of Accumulation 5
Professionals and the Delayed Endorsing of Social
Citizenship 9
Social Service Professionalism and the Market sector 17
Unbounded Social Citizenship and the Crisis of
British Capitalism 19
The New Right's Attempted Destruction of Social
Democracy 25
The Consequences of the State's Shift Right for
Professionals 30
Capital's Attack and Resurgence 33
Conclusion 37
2 Defenders of the Laissez-Faire Faith and Adherents
to Fordist Collectivism: The Changing Relationship
Between Lawyers and Society 39
A Suitably Qualified Laissez-Faire Capitalism 40
Inter-professional Rivalry and the Increasing
Withdrawal into Land - Monopolising Conveyancing 45
Vll
viii Contents
The Laissez-Faire State as the Solicitors' Defender 54
The Rise of the Interventionist State - A Case of
Threatening Behaviour? 61
The Interventionist State and Solicitors - Towards a
New Accommodation 66
Elite Firms - From Laissez-Faire Capitalism to
Fordism 73
Conclusion - Lawyers and the Crisis of Social
Democracy 79
3 Lawyers, the State and the Market: Between the
Devil and the Deep Blue Sea 82
The Strong State and the Professions 82
Lawyers and the Strong State - A Further
Facilitation of the Powerful? 93
Professional Services as Commodities - A Capital
Idea 108
Buying Individual or Firm Skills? Commercial
Knowledge, Networks and the In-House Lawyers 117
Conclusion 121
4 Flexible Accumulation and the Emergence of the
'Commercialised Professional' 123
Commercial Law Firms - Are They Really That
Different? 125
'Restructuring for the Emergence of the
Commercialised Professional' 131
Networking and the (Renewed) Cult of the
Individual 142
Embeddedness, Trust and Marketing Professional
Services 146
Contents ix
Networks as Sources of Individual Empowerment 156
Conclusion 161
5 Professionalism as Enterprise: Service Class
Politics and the Redefinition of Professionalism 164
The Service Class as a Conservative Force 165
Service Class Divisions 166
Professions, Trust and the Service Class 170
Professionals and the Fissures in the Service Class 174
Social Service Professionalism and a Radical Service
Class? 178
Developing These Issues Further 181
Conclusion 182
Conclusion: The Social Structure and the Changing
Face of Professional Work 184
Appendix: Research Methodology 190
Notes 193
References 197
Index 209
List of Tables
1.1 Expansion of employment in broad professional
services sectors 1948-68 8
4.1 Percentage of firms by partner numbers 125
4.2 Areas of law practised by firm size 129
4.3 Type of client base by law firm size 130
4.4 Proportions of law firms with departments 132
4.5 How competitive is the market by firm size? 135
4.6 Extent and type of marketing plans devised by law
firms by firm size 142
x