Lawyers’ Role in Dispute Resolution

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Lawyers’ Role in Dispute Resolution

Modern American culture provides an inconsistent vision of the role of lawyers

in dispute resolution. Lawyers are alternately portrayed as greedy, corrupt people

without morals or as necessary and competent allies in protecting individuals against

larger and better-funded opponents. In reality, while lawyers have the definite

capability to change the outcome of a dispute in a negative way, they ultimately have a

positive effect by allowing citizens access to the legal system. By its very nature, the

legal system is confusing, puts the inexperienced at a disadvantage, and can be difficult

to access for claimants with little authority. Lawyers provide a way to overcome these

obstacles. They are beneficial because they effectively use their experience and

education to help their clients, facilitate their client’s freedom in trial, aid in the

formation of cases, and add authority and weight to a claim.

The experience and education lawyers have is invaluable in providing legal

access for their clients. Their knowledge and skill allow lawyers to effectively interpret

the legal system and therefore help their clients navigate it. The American legal system,

in the two hundred years it has been in existence, has become extremely complex and

confusing to the uninitiated. The trial process alone can become a Byzantine series of

motions, objections, briefs, and rulings. Despite the fact that defendants are allowed to

represent themselves, the very structure of the system is so complicated that being or

employing a professional lawyer is all but necessary. Legal documents, too, are so

confusing that even non-trial disputes can be impossible for a layman to handle. A

lawyer’s training i...

... middle of paper ...

...nore, Peter d’Errico, Ethan Katsh, Ronald M.

Pipkin, Janet Rifkin (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002) 76-83.

Langum, David J. “William M. Kunstler: The Most Hated Lawyer in America,

Introduction to Legal Studies: A Reader, ed. Thomas Hilbink, 2005, 83-97.

Haltom, William. Michael McCann, “Distorting the Law: Politics, Media, and the

Litigation Crisis,” Introduction to Legal Studies: A Reader, ed. Thomas Hilbink,

2005, 23-46.

Menkel-Meadow, Carrie. “The Transformation of Legal Disputes by Lawyers: What the

Dispute Paradigm Does and Does Not Tell Us,” Before the Law: An

Introduction to the Legal Process. Ed. Stephen Arons, John J Bonsignore, Peter

d’Errico, Ethan Katsh, Ronald M. Pipkin, Janet Rifkin (Boston: Houghton

Mifflin, 2002) 478-480

Toobin, Jeffrey. “Killer Instinct,” Introduction to Legal Studies: A Reader, ed. Thomas

Hilbink, 2005, 251-260.

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