Retired Justice Macklin Fleming argues that in its quest for money, the legal profession has lost sight of its true tasks and responsibilities, with the result that the profession is rife with client dissatisfaction, public distrust, and individual lawyer discontent. Money is now the measure of success, he says, and honesty has been diluted, while fiduciary responsibility has eroded. Fleming elaborates his case with unusual rigor. In the quest for the brass ring of financial success, corner-cutting, absence of candor, and distortions of fact have become increasingly tolerated, to the...

Retired Justice Macklin Fleming argues that in its quest for money, the legal profession has lost sight of its true tasks and responsibilities, with the result that the profession is rife with client dissatisfaction, public distrust, and individual lawyer discontent. Money is now the measure of success, he says, and honesty has been diluted, while fiduciary responsibility has eroded. Fleming elaborates his case with unusual rigor. In the quest for the brass ring of financial success, corner-cutting, absence of candor, and distortions of fact have become increasingly tolerated, to the...