Halliday argues that lawyers use their legal expertise to shape state responses to crises, stabilizing democratic institutions and adapting to political, legal, and fiscal challenges.
United States of America
Rosen (2006), “Lessons on Lawyers, Democracy, and Professional Responsibility”
The article argues that lawyers have a professional responsibility to understand and support democracy, not because it is perfect, but because their role is essential to improving and sustaining it.
Cummings (2024), “Lawyers in Backsliding Democracy”
This article argues that lawyers can be key agents of democratic backsliding, using legal tools to erode institutions and legitimize autocracy, and calls for reforms to strengthen the profession’s role in defending democracy.
Newcity (2005), “Why Is There No Russian Atticus Finch? Or Even a Russian Rumpole”
An exploration of the differences in the societal expectations of lawyers in the United States and Russia, concluding that the sort of respect afforded to Atticus Finch is notably absent in Russia.
Goldstein (2022), “The Attorney’s Duty to Democracy: Legal Ethics, Attorney Discipline, and the 2020 Election”
An analysis of the roles that attorneys have played in facilitating democratic backsliding internationally to draw lessons for the American legal ethics regime.
Piomelli (2009), “The Challenge of Democratic Lawyering”
Democratic lawyers believe-as much of the rest of U.S. society and the bar do not-that ordinary people, acting collectively with peers, receptive professionals, and other allies, can and must play a leading role in efforts to reshape our society and political
Zacharias (2009), “True Confessions About the Role of Lawyers in a Democracy”
This essay suggests that, in a very limited sphere, lawyers play a unique role in the protection of the rule of law.
Hendley (2017), Everyday Law in Russia
Hendley argues that despite political interference in high-profile cases, ordinary Russians do engage with the legal system in everyday disputes, revealing a more nuanced and pragmatic relationship with the law than commonly assumed.
Wald (2025), The Role of Lawyers in Mature Democracies When the Rule of Law is Under Attack
A deep dive into the argument for how lawyers, particularly in mature legal systems, must move beyond passive roles and actively defend the rule of law in response to growing threats to democratic principles.
Glendon (1996), A Nation Under Lawyers: How the Crisis in the Legal Profession Is Transforming American Society
Glendon outlines the changes within the legal system and offers her assessment of the people and ideas that are transforming our law-dependent culture.