A Golden Age of Civic Involvement: The Client Centered Disadvantage for Lawyers Acting as Public Officials (original) (raw)

TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION I. WHY WE SAY THAT LAWYERS ARE AT A COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE FOR BEING PUBLIC OFFICIALS II. THE LAWYER'S ROLE AND THE PUBLIC OFFICIAL'S ROLE A. The Lawyer's Role B. The Public Official's Role C. The Poor Fit III. EXAMPLES OF ROLE CONFLICT IN ACTION A. The Good Character Requirement B. The Educational Requirements C. Restrictions on Advertisement D. The Contingent Fee IV. WHAT IS TO BE DONE? CONCLUSION INTRODUCTION We have been told for centuries that lawyers are better than others at being public officials, lawmakers in particular. And without doubt, lawyers possess some attributes that suit them to this work. But I will suggest in this Article that lawyers have one significant flaw for doing public official work: they are accustomed to representing clients' interests against the interests of all others, including the public interest. This Article addresses only one aspect of the lawyer's tradition of doing public service and propo...