The New Lawyer, Second Edition

The New Lawyer, Second Edition, analyzes the fundamental changes transforming the role of lawyers, the nature of client service, and the basic principles of legal practice. The first edition, published in 2008, quickly became an essential resource for lawyers and legal educators and further established Julie Macfarlane’s reputation as a leading thinker in the areas of access to justice, negotiation, and dispute resolution. It argued that the legal system has shifted away from protracted litigation toward conflict resolution, dispelling the notion of the lawyer as an adversarial “client warrior.” The second edition addresses further developments in the client/lawyer relationship and offers timely analysis of the current trends in legal practice:

• the evolving lawyer/client relationship in light of the resources available to clients in the Internet age;
• the concept of conflict resolution advocacy;
• the impact of increasing numbers of self-represented litigants on the work of lawyers, including consideration of professional ethics when working opposite a party without formal legal training;
• new legal technologies, such as outsourcing and remote access, and their impact on legal services and client expectations; and
• the latest research and debates over issues of access to justice in Canada and the United States.

Macfarlane stresses the urgent need for a commitment to lawyer/client collaboration and to revised financial structures for legal services if the legal profession is to remain relevant in this rapidly changing environment.