James E. Moliterno. The American Legal Profession in Crisis: Resistance and Responses to Change. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 2013.
This work explores the American legal profession’s historical tendency to resist reform, particularly in moments of crisis that threaten its identity or institutional norms. The author argues that the legal field often responds to political, economic, and technological upheavals by doubling down on traditionalism and preserving the status quo, rather than adapting to societal change. This inward turn, the book suggests, weakens the profession’s ability to act as a force for democratic resilience. In the context of democratic backsliding, such resistance to reform renders the legal profession ill-equipped to counter authoritarian trends or to innovate in defense of civil rights and the rule of law. Moliterno ultimately calls on legal professionals to engage more constructively with social transformation—aligning legal structures with evolving democratic needs and ensuring lawyers serve not just the law as it is, but the society it is meant to uphold.