ABSTRACT

This paper takes as its starting point the phenomenon of young lawyers in ethical crisis. The teaching of ethics in the classroom and the ethos and environment of the law firm have created dissonance: knowing what it is right to do but being unable to do it. In examining this phenomenon, we develop the idea of commitment as a source of duty, loyalty, and courage that enables someone to accept and overcome reluctance to act ethically. Our conceptual framework combines two models: Fineman’s radical view that vulnerability is universal, but ameliorated by the assets available to the individual, and Rest’s four component model that provides a taxonomy of precursors for ethical action and resilience. We consider how the structures and the relationships between law schools, regulators and law firms, acting in combination, support or degrade ethical resilience and development of a commitment to ethical action. We close by considering how changes to the structure planned by one regulator in England and Wales deplete the assets available to the young lawyer and thereby the profession.

摘要

本文以青年律师的道德危机现象为切入点。课堂上的道德教学与律师事务所的精神和环境造成了不和谐：知道做什么是正确的，但做不到。在研究这一现象时，我们提出了承诺的概念作为责任、忠诚和勇气的源泉，使人们能够接受并克服不愿按道德行事的态度。我们的概念框架结合了两个模型：Fineman 的激进观点，即脆弱性是普遍存在的，但可以通过个人可用的资产来改善；Rest 的四个组成部分模型，为道德行动和复原力提供了先驱的分类。我们考虑法学院、监管机构和律师事务所之间的结构和关系如何共同行动，支持或降低道德弹性以及对道德行动承诺的发展。最后，我们考虑了英格兰和威尔士的一位监管机构计划对结构进行的改变如何耗尽年轻律师以及整个职业的可用资产。