identity, power & professional responsiblity

SELECTED READINGS & MATERIALS
Editor: Leslie Patrice Culver, J.D.

Carolina Academic Press (forthcoming 2026).

law & Communication

Identity, Power & Professional Responsibility: Selected Readings and Materials, is the first of its kind. This book is not a traditional professional responsibility law school casebook. Traditional professional responsibility courses teach the Model Rules of Professional Conduct in the American legal profession. The market is saturated with books toward that endeavor.

Instead, this book sits at the intersection of Law & Communication, and represents the first comprehensive examination of identity, culture, power, and communication in the legal profession. This relationship triggers a discussion on the professional responsibility of lawyers through the lens of cultural awareness.

aBA profile of the Legal Profession

These images represent the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Profile of the Legal Profession in 2024. These demographic realities have profound implications for how legal professionals navigate their careers. Due to this demographic, the book highlights the social construct of “race” and the role of gender as they impact the traditional lawyering model.

Year after year, the ABA has been replete with reports and newly-minted committees whose goal was to “eliminate bias” and enhance diversity through the “full and equal participation in the profession by minorities and women.” The intention is well-meaning, but the implementation has consistently fallen short.

an invitation to readers...

Traditional casebooks concerning professional responsibility in the legal profession are not aimed at meaningfully informing students about the origin of the “white male lawyer” archetype within the legal profession.

The goal of this book is to bring awareness to the reality that attorneys and legal professionals from traditionally marginalized groups are often pressured to perform strategies to communicate their identity in this homogeneous profession as a means of emotional, mental, and professional survival. Equally, attorneys and legal professionals in traditionally dominant groups often lack a historical understanding of whiteness as a social construct (not biological) which, when performed, can (un)intentionally preserve power hierarchies in the legal profession.

An understanding of identity performance for ALL attorneys, and how it affects and intersects with legal practice, is beneficial for all law students entering this culturally global profession.

2L, Spring 2023

"Pause and Reflect”

Identity and power used to be politicized in my mind, however, this class has opened my eyes to a growing and critical field of study that is trying to provide solutions or frameworks to issues around identity and power in society. Many of the studies and research read in this class are things I wouldn’t have read on my own and I am very grateful to have been guided through this topic and research.

As I work on cultural awareness throughout my life, this class reminds me to pause and reflect more on my thoughts, biases, and interactions. Rather than putting people in a box when I first meet them, this class has taught me to allow others to introduce, define, and highlight who they are as a person instead. These two lessons, among many others I have learned this semester, are what I hope to incorporate into my practice of law and the rest of my time in law school.

3L, Spring 2022

"Overwhelmed by Gratitude"

I have been pushed in more ways than one this semester. Yet, as the end of term approaches, I am overwhelmed by one emotion–gratitude.

2L Spring 2023

"Finding the Words"

One of the things that surprised me with this class . . . , was the vocabulary that we all learned. In some ways it seems silly to say that learning new words could make such a big difference, particularly because we are all highly educated people to begin with at this point. But having the language to discuss these topics made such a huge difference! In some ways I think that vocabulary and language can really bring people together. When you have experienced something personally and you don’t really know how to describe it, then you finally find a word that perfectly describes your experience, I feel like [it] lets you know that you are not alone. Other people experience so many of the same challenges, and being able to call them out by name is so powerful.

A human Dignity philosophy

This book borrows the human dignity philosophy from the more formal human rights framework because, though the framework does not resolve social stratification, it is a non-divisive framing that moves us toward human interactions both in view of and across differences in a dignified way.

Other Books

If you’re going to law school but have no idea what to expect, you’re not alone. Law school can be overwhelming. You’re learning a new way of thinking and doing an enormous amount of work, and maybe struggling to reach the same level of achievement you have in the past. On top of that, you’re still finding your path in a new profession, learning its rules, expectations, and possibilities.

The aim of this book is to help prepare you for the challenges ahead. It tells you what to expect and how to make sure that you end up on a career path that you’re happy with. Covering everything from preparing for law school to becoming an attorney, this book is your guide to what’s really important over the next few years. We’ll talk about what law school is like, how to stay healthy and avoid burnout, and how to get the most out of your experience so that you set yourself up for success as a lawyer. Law school is challenging, but you can handle it with strategic planning and advice from people who have been there.