Corporate and individual-serving lawyers differ on nearly every social variable

Evidence

According to John Heinz and Edward Laumann, the American legal profession is divided into “two hemispheres”: those who represent large organizations, primarily corporations, and those who represent individuals. … Lawyers who serve major corporations and other large organizations differ systematically from those who work for individuals and small businesses, whether we look at the social origins of the lawyers, the prestige of the law schools they attended, their careers histories and mobility, their social or political values, their networks of friends and professional associations, or several other social variables. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 713

Categorization

• DEFINE: The ‘two hemispheres’ framework of Heinz and Laumann is a foundational structural concept in the sociology of the legal profession.
• CANDY: A useful dinner-party fact: no other profession is as bifurcated as law between corporate and individual client work.
• XREF: connects to: Ethical ideals differ between client-loyalty and justice-serving lawyers — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 933; Racial segregation among legal careers correlates with pay differences; Adversarial lawyers serve clients while inquisitorial lawyers serve justice — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 636 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Adversarial lawyers serve clients while inquisitorial lawyers serve justice #expands (0.82) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 636
• Ethical ideals differ between client-loyalty and justice-serving lawyers #exemplifies (0.78) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 933
• Racial segregation among legal careers correlates with pay differences #expands (0.75)
• Legal profession growth substantially reflects opening to formerly excluded groups #qualifies (0.72) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1195