Introduction

The link between professionalism and the idea of service is well established in the literature.³ A commitment to service is seen as a key virtue for lawyers.⁴ Kronman argued that the deployment of skill without concern for the public interest makes a person a legal technician, not a good lawyer.⁵ Others have argued for a conception of professional responsibility that includes serving the public good.⁶ Yet others propose very specific manifestations of service, such as pro bono publico, or the provision of free legal services.⁷ There is, therefore, no consensus on what constitutes service.

Since the introduction of the welfare state the profession in England and Wales has adopted a commitment to public service. This is somewhat consistent with a concep-

¹ R Pound, The Lawyer from Antiquity to Modern Times: With Particular Reference to The Development of Bar Associations in the United States (St Paul, MN, West Publishing, 1953) at X.

² F Rodell, ‘Goodbye to Law Reviews’ (1936) 23 Virginia Law Review 38, at 42.

³ R Abel, The Legal Profession in England and Wales (Oxford, Blackwell, 1988) at 27.

⁴ A Flores, ‘What Kind Of Person Should A Professional Be’ in A Flores (ed), Professional Ideals (Belmont, CA, Wadsworth, 1988) at 1.

⁵AT Kronman, ‘Living in the Law’ in D Luban (ed), The Ethics of Lawyers (Aldershot, Dartmouth Publishing Co, 1994) at 835.

⁶ HT Edwards, ‘A Lawyers’ Duty to Serve the Public Good’ (1990) 65 New York University Law Review 1148.

⁷ N Strosen, ‘Pro Bono Legal Work: For the Good of Not Only the Public but also the Lawyer and the Legal Profession’ (1992-93) 91 Michigan Law Review 2122. tion of service as eschewing self-interest, particularly making money, as the raison d’etre of professional practice.

Professional rules of conduct rarely formalise or state positively such service obliga­tions. For example, there has never been a rule requiring provision of legal services pro bono publico in the codes of legal professions in England and Wales. The American Bar Association’s Model Rules has, however, included an aspirational rule. This illus­trates the fact that some professional norms are contested and may be difficult to specify or enforce. The fact is that considerable growth in the provision of voluntary legal services has been achieved despite this. This may be an example of the impact of culture, in this case a rediscovered and re-imagined tradition, on professional behaviour.

II.