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Law and Strategy in the Divorce Lawyer's Office

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2024

Austin Sarat  and
William L. F. Felstiner
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Abstract

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In the research from which this paper is derived, we have observed and tape-recorded approximately 115 lawyer-client conferences. Our observations were made in two sites, one in California and one in Massachusetts. In this paper we take an in-depth look at the nature of lawyer-client discourse by focusing on one conference. We explore three of the most important themes in that discourse. First is the discussion and characterization of the legal system and its major actors. Next is the exploration of the advantages and disadvantages of disposing of disputed issues through negotiation or trial. Finally, the third theme involves the “legal construction of the client,” where a lawyer and client discuss rules of relevance that govern the legal process as well as the aspects of the client's experience that are to be the subject of legal inquiry. The paper concludes by exploring the way each of these themes expresses or embodies prevailing legal ideologies and influences the way cases develop and are managed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , 1986 , pp. 93 - 134
Copyright
Copyright © 1986 by The Law and Society Association

Footnotes

The research on which this paper is based was supported in part by two grants from the National Science Foundation (SES 8110483 and 8510422). Earlier versions of the paper were presented at a workshop on the Study of the Interaction between Lawyer and Client, Rijksuniversiteit, Groningen, The Netherlands, and to the seminar on Legal Ideology and Legal Process, Amherst, Massachusetts. The authors acknowledge the helpful comments of the participants in those meetings. In addition, we have received useful suggestions from Jane Collier, Thomas Kearns, Robert Kidder, Susan Silbey, Ronald Tiersky, Stephanie Sandler, and Diane Vaughan. Special thanks is to be given to Beatrice Caesar-Wolf and David Kanouse, whose insights have considerably enriched our thinking.

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