Law School and Professional Identity Formation

December 2019 Volume 25, Number 3 From the Executive GEORGIA BAR Director—Sen. Leroy Johnson: ‘A Jewel in Georgia’s Crown’ ’Tis the Season: JOURNAL Giving by Mentoring 2020 Legislative Preview The Power of One THE LEGAL Not So Fast! Enforcing Accelerated Rent Clauses in Commercial Lease Agreements GBJ | Professionalism Page Law School and Professional Identity Formation This article is adapted from our book, “The Formation of Professional Identity: the Path from Student to Lawyer,” and reviews the concept of professional identity, something that practicing lawyers of any age may ﬁnd useful as they reﬂect on their own roles in the profession. BY PROF. PATRICK E. LONGAN, PROF. DAISY HURST FLOYD AND PROF. TIMOTHY W. FLOYD Law school is a transformative pro- lawyer who ___.” The professional iden- cess. Students learn things that lawyers tity we strive to promote for our students need to know and learn how to do some is one that internalizes the traditional of the things that lawyers do. But that values of the profession and disposes the is not all. Beyond knowledge and skill, students to act in accordance with them. law students absorb lessons about the We have recently written a book that professional values that are supposed to we will be using in that process: “The guide the deployment of their newfound Formation of Professional Identity: the knowledge and skill. Path from Student to Lawyer” (Routledge We’ve spent many years teaching and Press 2019). A focus on professional iden- writing about ethics and professional- tity formation is not new or original with ism, and collectively we have practiced in us. But in our book we offer our own spe- a variety of settings. Those experiences cifics about the components of the right have led us to conclude that the best way kind of professional identity for lawyers to help our students understand and com- and, based upon our experience in teach- mit to the values of the profession is to ing legal ethics and professionalism, how focus on the development of “profes- best to begin the process of professional sional identity.” The concept of a “profes- identity formation among law students. sional identity” may be unfamiliar to most Practicing lawyers of any age may also lawyers, and it may sound like academic find the book and the concept of profes- gobbledygook. It is actually simple and sional identity useful as they reflect on intuitive. An identity is just a deep sense their own roles in the profession. of self in a particular role. We all form Our book discusses in depth the six multiple identities as we go through life— virtues that should be part of the profes- for example, as a friend, as a spouse or as sional identity of every lawyer: profes- a person of faith. Professional identity is sional excellence, fidelity to the client, a piece of this evolving sense of self for fidelity to the law, public service, civility law students and lawyers. A sense of your and practical wisdom. We make the case professional identity would enable you to why students and lawyers should seek to complete the sentence, “I am the kind of acquire and cultivate these virtues—be- GETTYIMAGES.COM/STANCIUC 62 GEORGIA BAR JOURNAL cause doing so will help them to make a notion of professionalism broadens the right direction of a more comprehensive meaningful difference in the lives of oth- conception of a lawyer’s professional re- process of introducing law students into ers and to flourish as individuals in the sponsibilities in important ways. One of the values of the profession. However, profession. We explore, as to each virtue, the early proponents of professionalism, now that the shortcomings of such train- the details of what it means and why it Chief Justice Harold Clarke of the Su- ing are clear, another approach is needed. matters. We identify the reasons why a preme Court of Georgia, once famously That is where “professional identity” lawyer might find it difficult in particular wrote that “ethics is a minimum standard and our new book come in. We hope situations to deploy each virtue, and we which is required of all lawyers while pro- that students and members of the Bar give recommendations for how to over- fessionalism is a higher standard expected find it useful. We invite you to read it come those obstacles. of all lawyers.”1 Such an expectation does and see for yourselves, and we welcome We focus on professional identity in not fit comfortably into a regulatory your feedback. part because law school historically has framework but can find useful expression not been as good about transmitting the in an aspirational statement on profes- values of the profession as it has been sionalism. The modern professionalism Prof. Patrick E. Longan about teaching knowledge and skill. For movement has spawned dozens of such holds the William Augustus decades, no training in ethics or profes- statements, including Georgia’s “A Law- Bootle Chair in Ethics and sionalism was required. Since the post- yer’s Creed” and “Aspirational Statement Professionalism in the 2 Practice of Law at the Mercer Watergate era began, all law schools on Professionalism.” University School of Law and is the have been required to teach all students We believe in teaching professionalism Director of the Mercer Center for Legal a course on professional responsibility, to law students but have come to recog- Ethics and Professionalism. which almost always focuses on the Mod- nize the shortcomings of such instruction. el Rules of Professional Conduct. Study of One is motivation. The underlying theme Prof. Daisy Hurst Floyd is the Model Rules provides some guidance of the professionalism movement is to University Professor of Law to students about the values of the pro- inspire students and lawyers, to convince and Ethical Formation at fession and motivates conduct that lives them that they should conduct themselves Mercer University School of up to these values primarily by the fear of in particular ways, even at cost to them- Law, where she formerly served as dean. She is a discipline such as disbarment. selves, when no rule requires them to do graduate of Emory University and the As a way of transmitting the values so and they need not fear any punish- University of Georgia School of Law. of the legal profession and motivating ment. That is not enough for some stu- students to live up to them, the profes- dents. Part of the problem is that, frankly, Prof. Timothy W. Floyd holds sional responsibility course is important professionalism teaching can sound a lit- the Tommy Malone but incomplete. Not all of the values of tle preachy. Our experience has been that Distinguished Chair in Trial the profession are reflected in the rules. many law students do not respond well Advocacy and serves as For example, civility is a core value of the to preaching. They are in the midst of Director of Experiential legal profession, yet there is no “civility rigorous training to be critical think- Education at Mercer University School of Law. rule” in the Model Rules. Furthermore, ers and are understandably skeptical of many kinds of misconduct are difficult to received wisdom. This article is adapted from “The detect and therefore difficult to punish. Another shortcoming of professional- Formation of Professional Identity: And deploying the values of the profes- ism teaching is that it does not provide The Path from Student to Lawyer” sion in complex circumstances requires any guidance on how to turn noble as- (Routledge Press 2019). much more than knowledge of the “do’s pirations into action in particular situa- and don’ts.” Often the value-laden deci- tions. Being able to recite professionalism sion for lawyers is about what they should guidelines does not enable law students Endnotes do, among multiple permissible actions. to solve complex real-world problems in 1. Harold G. Clarke, Professionalism: Knowing the rules of conduct and the which more than one professional value is Repaying the Debt, 25 GEORGIA STATE possible consequences of violating them in play. It is like telling a pianist about all BAR JOURNAL 170, 173 (1989). is important, but it is not enough. the beautiful notes but providing no guid- 2. A copy of A Lawyer’s Creed and More recently, some law schools have ance about which notes to play in which the Aspirational Statement on exhorted students to “aim higher” than order. The beautiful notes are no practical Professionalism is available on the rules and aspire to act with “profes- good at concert time. the website of the Chief Justice’s sionalism.” Mercer Law School has been Courses and programs on profession- Commission on Professionalism at teaching such a course since 2004. The alism have been an important step in the www.cjcpga.org. 2019 DECEMBER 63.

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