Legal aid lawyers and the quest for justice
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Legal aid lawyers and the quest for justice
Hart, 2013
Available at 3 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [169]-182) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
This book examines the state of access to criminal justice by considering the health of the lawyer-client relationship under legal aid. In the largest study of its kind for some two decades, ethnographic fieldwork is used to gain a fresh perspective upon the interaction that lies at the heart of the criminal justice system's equality of arms. The research produces two contradictory messages; in interview, lawyers claim a positive relationship with their clients while, under participant observation, there emerges quite the opposite. Paying more heed to what was seen than what was said, it is supposed that these lawyers were able to talk the talk but not walk the walk. The lawyers treat their clients with wanton disrespect; making fun of them, talking over them and pushing them to plead guilty - despite protestations to the contrary. The evidence is damning for this branch of the legal profession - and tragic for the clients who depend on them. What is responsible for this malaise...inadequate financial remuneration? Increased time pressures? Lapsed ethical training? Whatever the origin, this book is intended to show the profession that there is a problem - one that could get worse unless they choose to learn from the mistakes made by the lawyers in this study.
Table of Contents
Chapter One - Access to Justice and the Lawyer-Client Relationship
Chapter Two - Investigating the Reality of Legally Aided Criminal Defence
Chapter Three - Attitudes
What Lawyers said about Attitudes
What I saw on Attitudes
Attitudes
Chapter Four - Behaviour
What Lawyers said about Behaviour
What I saw on Behaviour
Behaviour
Chapter Five - Outcomes
What Lawyers said about Outcomes
What I saw on Outcomes
Outcomes
Chapter Six - Some Concluding Thoughts: Access to Justice and the Lawyer-Client Relationship Revisited
by "Nielsen BookData"