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The loyal defence lawyer

Flower, Lisa LU orcid (2021) p.165-179
Abstract

The work of defence lawyers entails managing emotions to ensure that they remain appropriate to the situation - whether that be a criminal trial or the law offices. This demands emotional dexterity and interactional skill, not least due to the particular role of defence lawyers who work closely with clients, view gruesome evidence and who often face moral suspicion. This chapter explores the various emotions at play in defence lawyers’ role accomplishment, with particular focus on how they perform the guiding principle for their legal position, namely loyalty. All of this is made more challenging for defence lawyers as they must ensure that their performances remain suitable to the invisible regime of law which attempts to sustain an... (More)

The work of defence lawyers entails managing emotions to ensure that they remain appropriate to the situation - whether that be a criminal trial or the law offices. This demands emotional dexterity and interactional skill, not least due to the particular role of defence lawyers who work closely with clients, view gruesome evidence and who often face moral suspicion. This chapter explores the various emotions at play in defence lawyers’ role accomplishment, with particular focus on how they perform the guiding principle for their legal position, namely loyalty. All of this is made more challenging for defence lawyers as they must ensure that their performances remain suitable to the invisible regime of law which attempts to sustain an illusionary dichotomy between rationality and professionalism on the one hand, and emotionality on the other. In this chapter the ways in which defence lawyers in Sweden manage their emotions to loyally represent their clients are therefore shown by presenting interview material from lawyers and ethnographic fieldnotes from criminal trials.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Research Handbook on Law and Emotion
pages
15 pages
publisher
Edward Elgar Publishing
external identifiers
  • scopus:85129400826
ISBN
9781788119078
9781788119085
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b5fad557-eb26-426e-a91e-79f79fc88f5e
date added to LUP
2022-07-05 14:36:24
date last changed
2024-03-19 17:09:58
@inbook{b5fad557-eb26-426e-a91e-79f79fc88f5e,
  abstract     = {{<p>The work of defence lawyers entails managing emotions to ensure that they remain appropriate to the situation - whether that be a criminal trial or the law offices. This demands emotional dexterity and interactional skill, not least due to the particular role of defence lawyers who work closely with clients, view gruesome evidence and who often face moral suspicion. This chapter explores the various emotions at play in defence lawyers’ role accomplishment, with particular focus on how they perform the guiding principle for their legal position, namely loyalty. All of this is made more challenging for defence lawyers as they must ensure that their performances remain suitable to the invisible regime of law which attempts to sustain an illusionary dichotomy between rationality and professionalism on the one hand, and emotionality on the other. In this chapter the ways in which defence lawyers in Sweden manage their emotions to loyally represent their clients are therefore shown by presenting interview material from lawyers and ethnographic fieldnotes from criminal trials.</p>}},
  author       = {{Flower, Lisa}},
  booktitle    = {{Research Handbook on Law and Emotion}},
  isbn         = {{9781788119078}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{165--179}},
  publisher    = {{Edward Elgar Publishing}},
  title        = {{The loyal defence lawyer}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}