SOC293H1 Lecture Notes - Social Reproduction, Making Money, Corporatization
Lecture 7: Lawyers and the Sociology of Law
Weber – the legal profession is indispensable to the legal order as we know it in modern Western socieites
Why are lawyers important?
- Roles they play as lawyers
- Judges – making law
- Gatekeepers and Politicians
Lawyers
Increase in the number of lawyers starting in the 1950s
- US: 1951 221605 while in 2012 1252713
- Canada 1961 700 while in 2012 115062
- Expansion of higher education
Profession is closed by providing many barriers to entry
Opening up of the profession to women and racial and religious minorities
Shift in the economy from manufacturing to services
- Lawyers have more work to do and have made more work for themselves (expanding scope)
Rate of growth is faster than that of physicians and surgeons
- It is because it is the state that controls the growth of the medical profession while legal profession is not
In Canada, the growth of lawyers happened without increasing too many law schools (increased class sizes at
particular law schools instead)
Becoming a lawyer in Canada
Entry to legal profession is governed by each province (rules and steps vary by province)
Going to law school
- Civil law (Quebec) or Common law (rest of Canada) – 22 schools in total
Bar admission (exam)
- Law society doesn’t tell you the pass percentage
Articling
- In Canada only – an apprenticeship
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
Lecture 7: lawyers and the sociology of law. Weber the legal profession is indispensable to the legal order as we know it in modern western socieites. Increase in the number of lawyers starting in the 1950s. Profession is closed by providing many barriers to entry. Opening up of the profession to women and racial and religious minorities. Shift in the economy from manufacturing to services. Lawyers have more work to do and have made more work for themselves (expanding scope) Rate of growth is faster than that of physicians and surgeons. It is because it is the state that controls the growth of the medical profession while legal profession is not. In canada, the growth of lawyers happened without increasing too many law schools (increased class sizes at particular law schools instead) Entry to legal profession is governed by each province (rules and steps vary by province) Civil law (quebec) or common law (rest of canada) 22 schools in total.
