Deprofessionalization: The Case of Law in America

It is becoming increasingly evident that the conditions that fostered the growth and dominance of the professions during the early part of this century are being eroded by social change. Social, economic, and political trends are undermining claims to autonomy and monopoly by previously well-entrenched groups such as the legal profession in America. These trends include changes in the knowledge base, shifts in the composition of the profession, emerging employment patterns, consumerism, and encroachment from allied professions. The process of deprofessionalization is manifest in a variety of restrictions upon traditional prerogatives, which suggests a general weakening of the very legitimacy of the unregulated professional model of social organization.

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