The Lawyer-Judge Bias in the American Legal System

Benjamin H. Barton

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511791871

Virtually all American judges are former lawyers. This book argues that these lawyer-judges instinctively favor the legal profession in their decisions and that this bias has far-reaching and deleterious effects on American law. There are many reasons for this bias, some obvious and some subtle. Fundamentally, it occurs because - regardless of political affiliation, race, or gender - every American judge shares a single characteristic: a career as a lawyer. This shared background results in the lawyer-judge bias. The book begins with a theoretical explanation of why judges naturally favor the interests of the legal profession and follows with case law examples from diverse areas, including legal ethics, criminal procedure, constitutional law, torts, evidence, and the business of law. The book closes with a case study of the Enron fiasco, an argument that the lawyer-judge bias has contributed to the overweening complexity of American law, and suggests some possible solutions.

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The Lawyer-Judge Bias in the American Legal System

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv

Contents
pp v-vi

Acknowledgments
pp vii-viii

1 - An Ambient Bias
pp 1-20

2 - The Theory
pp 21-38

3 - Constitutional Criminal Procedure
pp 39-76

4 - Civil Constitutional Law
pp 77-104

5 - A Short History of Lawyer Regulation
pp 105-130

6 - Current Lawyer Regulation
pp 131-160

7 - Torts
pp 161-188

8 - Evidence and Civil Procedure
pp 189-208

9 - The Business of Law
pp 209-242

10 - Enron's Sole Survivors
pp 243-258

11 - Complexity and the Lawyer–Judge Bias
pp 259-284

12 - Rays of Hope, Ramifications, and Possible Solutions
pp 285-300

Index
pp 301-303

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The Lawyer-Judge Bias in the American Legal System

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