Lynn Mather

Language, Audience, and the Transformation of Disputes

This article develops an analytic framework for comparing dispute processing within a single institution and across different cultures, by focusing on the transformation of disputes. Case studies from diverse nonwestern and western settings are examined to show how disputes change as they are processed in response to the interests of various participants. Disputants, supporters, third parties, and relevant publics seek to rephrase and thus transform a dispute by imposing established categories for classifying events and relationships (narrowing), or by developing a framework which challenges established categories (expansion). Disputes may be expanded by adding new issues, by enlarging the arena of discussion, or by increasing the number and type of active participants. Thus, how the dispute is defined (language) and the roles played by various participants are critical features of the dispute. We focus on the agent of transformation, with special attention to the degree of audience participation, particularly in dispute expansion. We suggest the importance of expansion as a mechanism through which new rules emerge in the legal process, and through which social change is linked to legal change.

Divorce lawyers at work : varieties of professionalism in practice

The authors look at how divorce lawyers actually work to address the question of legal professionalism in practice. Through a detailed and systematic study of legal practice at the micro level, they show how lawyers create their own controls over work through their social relationships, formal and informal norms, common knowledge, and shared values. While much of the research on legal professionalism centers on the formal standards of the bar as reflected in codes of professional responsibility, Mather et al. show how the discretionary judgments that lawyers make, and the choices they face, are actually understood in relation to norms and standards of other lawyers with whom they interact or compare themselves.

Changing Patterns of Legal Representation in Divorce: From Lawyers to Pro Se

Governmental assistance for legal representation in civil cases is far greater in the United Kingdom than in the United States of America. This article explores the extent of legal support for low-income Americans, particularly in the area of family law. Examination of the data on self-representation across the United States and over time shows decreased reliance on lawyers. Drawing on institutional and individual perspectives, the article then explores why individuals choose to represent themselves in divorce. What do lawyers add to a divorce besides cost? The article suggests patterns of lawyering depending upon the lawyer and the resources of the client. While some individuals may thrive in the divorce process without the need of a lawyer, others are disadvantaged by the lack of services available to them. The matching process between case needs and legal representation does not work.

Disputes, Social Construction and Transformation of

The social construction of disputes refers to the process by which injuries are perceived and asserted as claims before a third party. Disputes are not objective events, but are social constructs. Transformation of disputes refers to change in their form or content as they are rephrased into legal language and as other participants become involved in the disputing process. Key contributions of the dispute transformation perspective include psychological insight into the perception and assertion of grievances; sociological analysis of the distribution of grievances, claims, and court cases for different types of injuries or problems; empirical work on the role of lawyers in transforming disputes; anthropological study of language and conflict; and political science research on how courts and other institutions shape the construction of disputes. Understanding how disputes emerge and are transformed links a microanalysis of dispute resolution with a macroview of Law, political order and change.

Justice by Consent: Plea Bargains in the American Courthouse@@@Plea Bargaining or Trial? The Process of Criminal Case Disposition

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