Among all those who encounter the law in the conduct of their lives or who consider it as a career, few have a solid understanding of the legal profession in America, and fewer still know anything about systems in other parts of the world. Lawyers in Society: An Overview offers a concise comparative introduction to the practice of law in a number of countries: England, Germany, Japan, Venezuela, and Belgium.

Extracted from the editors' three highly successful volumes published under the general title Lawyers in Society, these essays guide readers through the differing worlds of civil and common law, law in Europe and Asia, and first and third world legal systems. One contribution addresses the changing role of women in the profession-women comprise half of all new lawyers in most countries-and the changes they have brought. A new introduction and concluding essay reflect on the place of this volume in current and future research.

Contents:
Richard L. Abel and Philip S. C. Lewis, "Introduction"
Richard L. Abel, "England and Wales: A Comparison of the Professional Projects of Barristers and Solicitors"
Erhard Blackenburg and Ulrike Schultz, "German Advocates: A Highly Regulated Profession"
Kahei Rokumoto, "The Present State of Japanese Practicing Attorneys: On the Way to Full Professionalization?"
Luc Huyse, "Legal Experts in Belgium"
Rogelio Perez Perdomo, "The Venezuelan Legal Profession: Lawyers in an Inegalitarian Society"
Carrie Menkel-Meadow, "Feminization of the Legal Profession: The Comparative Sociology of Women Lawyers"
Richard L. Abel and Philip S. C. Lewis, "Putting Law Back into the Sociology of Lawyers"
This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1995.