John P. Heinz and Paul S. Schnorr,
with Edward O. Laumann and Robert L. Nelson
Abstract
The extent and nature of lawyers' participation
in civic life probably has important effects on the character
of the community's activity and its outcomes. Where and how lawyers
participate in voluntary associations may influence the ability
of those organizations to function within the larger structure
of American institutions. This paper compares findings from two
surveys of Chicago lawyers, the first conducted in 1975 and the
second in 1994-95. Contrary to some expectations, the available
evidence does not suggest that community activities of lawyers
decreased. Moreover, lawyers' energies in 1995 appear to have
been devoted more often to socially concerned organizations, those
with a reformist agenda, than had been the case in 1975. The types
of organizations with the greatest increase in activity were religious,
educational, and civic associations. A smaller percentage of respondents
held leadership positions in 1995 than in 1975, but, because of
a doubling in the number of lawyers, the best estimate is that
the bar's absolute level of contribution to community leadership
did not change greatly. In both 1975 and 1995, a hierarchy of
social prestige appears to have influenced the pattern of lawyers'
community activities. Lawyers who had higher incomes, were older,
were Protestants, and who had attended elite law schools were
more likely to be active or leaders in most kinds of organizations.
In ethnic and fraternal organizations, however, the elites of
the profession had relatively low rates of participation, while
government lawyers, solo practitioners, and graduates of less
prestigious law schools predominated. Status hierarchies within
the broader community--as well as social differences in taste,
preference, or "culture"--clearly penetrate the bar.
John P. Heinz, School
of Law, Northwestern University
Paul S. Schnorr, Associated Colleges of the
Midwest Edward O. Laumann, Department of Sociology, University
of Chicago Robert L. Nelson, Department of Sociology, Northwestern
University
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