About the LEAD Initiative
Why LEAD: The Current Context
A range of societal pressures and cultural forces have converged to create many challenges for the legal profession:
- Distrust of Lawyers: Tales of scandal, greed and lawyer malfeasance are everywhere, and, society generally views lawyers with contempt, distrust and suspicion.
- Declining Civility in Favor of a "Win at All Costs" Attitude: Accounts of modern litigation describe cases fought on a terrain of moral compromise, with scorched-earth tactics between overly zealous advocates.
- Disconnection from Important Personal Values: A growing number of lawyers are dissatisfied their inability to balance commitments to work, family, community and the historic public service elements of professional practice.
- Lack of Access to Justice for Many Clients: Those who are poor and marginalized often are unable to gain access to justice or play a role in creating better systems that support their entire community.
- Diversification: With the entrance of more and more women and minorities, the profession's composition has changed, but the legal profession has been slow to react to these changes.
- Globalization: The globalization of law practice has created new opportunities for lawyers, but also challenges as they confront new professional expectations and ways of doing business in different cultural environments.
More on the LEAD Initiative
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