The Pursuit of Legal Rights-and Beyond

Just over thirty years ago, in a seminal trilogy of books, Joel Handler and his collaborators made three foundational contributions to the study of public interest lawyers. The first was theoretical, defining public interest law as a positive externality producing legal activity; the second was orga...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inUCLA law review Vol. 59; no. 3; p. 506
Main Author Cummings, Scott L
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law 01.02.2012
Subjects
Advocacy
Handler, Joel F
Legal defense
Public interest
Writers
United States > US
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Summary:Just over thirty years ago, in a seminal trilogy of books, Joel Handler and his collaborators made three foundational contributions to the study of public interest lawyers. The first was theoretical, defining public interest law as a positive externality producing legal activity; the second was organizational, conceptualizing public interest law as an industry with multiple sectors that provided legal services; and the third was practical, examining the conditions under which legal rights activities were likely to succeed or fail. In this essay, the author seeks to evaluate the Paradox of Public Interest Law in light of the dramatically different political, economic, and intellectual context within which the public interest law movement now operates. He traces the arc of the movement's change, emphasizing the role of ideological, organizational, and tactical complexity in driving new understandings of the meaning and practice of public interest law. Handler's legacy teaches that the pursuit of legal rights -- despite the risks -- is still worth the fight.
ISSN:0041-5650
1943-1724