About the LEAD Initiative
Why LEAD: The Current Context
A range of societal pressures and cultural forces have converged to create many challenges for the legal profession:
- Distrust of Lawyers: Tales of scandal, greed and lawyer malfeasance are everywhere, and, society generally views lawyers with contempt, distrust and suspicion.
- Declining Civility in Favor of a "Win at All Costs" Attitude: Accounts of modern litigation describe cases fought on a terrain of moral compromise, with scorched-earth tactics between overly zealous advocates.
- Disconnection from Important Personal Values: A growing number of lawyers are dissatisfied their inability to balance commitments to work, family, community and the historic public service elements of professional practice.
- Lack of Access to Justice for Many Clients: Those who are poor and marginalized often are unable to gain access to justice or play a role in creating better systems that support their entire community.
- Diversification: With the entrance of more and more women and minorities, the profession's composition has changed, but the legal profession has been slow to react to these changes.
- Globalization: The globalization of law practice has created new opportunities for lawyers, but also challenges as they confront new professional expectations and ways of doing business in different cultural environments.