Richard L. Abel. “Lawyers and the Power to Change.” Law & Policy, vol. 7, no. 1 (1985): 5-18.
This article examines the marginalized yet politically potent fringe of the legal profession—lawyers who neither represent commercial interests nor serve as state functionaries, but who dedicate their practice to advancing the interests of the poor and disenfranchised. These practitioners, often operating outside traditional legal aid or public institutional channels, rely on grants, foundation support, or client fees to fund their politically engaged work. In authoritarian or backsliding democracies, their role becomes even more critical: they represent one of the few segments of the profession actively pushing against state power and systemic injustice. Abel situates their marginality not as a weakness, but as a potential site of resistance—where legal activism and service to vulnerable populations intersect. The work raises key questions about the profession’s complicity in or resistance to authoritarianism and highlights how these fringe lawyers may be uniquely positioned to push for systemic change when traditional legal structures are captured or neutralized.