Public lawyers and private clients: An empirical observation on the relative success rates of cause lawyers

Yoav Dotan*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cause lawyering is often criticized for creating an untenable tension between the professional obligations of the lawyer to the individual client and the lawyer’s ideological commitment to public causes. I sought to test empirically the validity of this argument by comparing the relative success rates of political lawyers and non-political lawyers in defending their clients’ interests in litigation concerning house-demolition orders before the Israeli High Court of Justice. I found that the general success rates of political lawyers in the research population were significantly higher than those of non-political lawyers. These findings can serve as an additional support for the various arguments in favor of cause lawyering.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)401-425
Number of pages25
JournalLaw and Policy
Volume21
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1999

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