How do lawyers think about and make the important decisions that constitute the day-to-day practice of law? This book explores that question through an extensive empirical study of lawyers practicing divorce law in New England. The authors emphasize the importance of "collegial control" in shaping lawyers' decisions and identify a variety of "communities of practice" that serve as key agents of that control. Offering a new understanding of the nature of lawyers' work in divorce law as well as a new perspective on legal professionalism, this book is required reading for scholars, students, and practitioners.

Lynn MatherNelson A. Rockefeller Professor of Government, Dartmouth College, Craig A. McEwenDaniel B. Fayerweather Professor of Political Economy and Sociology, Bowdoin College, Richard J. MaimanProfessor of Political Science, University of Southern Maine

"An outstanding contribution to our understanding of the effects of context on lawyers' practice."--Buffalo Law Review |k No