102% agreement, with an addition. A lot of people are infected with "law brain:" thinking that a wholesome bout of litigation can solve all social problems. They start seeing race through the prism of anti-discrimination law, which mostly focuses on individuals, states of mind, and J'Accuse!!!! Law brain obsesses over individual injustice, and does not comprehend economics or class, at least where racial issues are concerned. Law brain is very convenient for conservatives, since a state of mind is very hard to prove, and aggregate welfare is irrelevant to law brain.
Real lawyers mostly don't suffer from law brain. They are just trying to get good results for their clients and will say whatever ridiculous things are necessary. Sincere law brain seems most virulent in journalism, a subset of fundraising-adjacent industries, and those dear deluded people who think you can take the politics out of policy. Oh, yes, and also "cause" lawyers: those who don't have to answer to real clients. Sometimes, I think that the cause lawyers believe that law is an effective instrument of social change!
101% agreement.
102% agreement, with an addition. A lot of people are infected with "law brain:" thinking that a wholesome bout of litigation can solve all social problems. They start seeing race through the prism of anti-discrimination law, which mostly focuses on individuals, states of mind, and J'Accuse!!!! Law brain obsesses over individual injustice, and does not comprehend economics or class, at least where racial issues are concerned. Law brain is very convenient for conservatives, since a state of mind is very hard to prove, and aggregate welfare is irrelevant to law brain.
Real lawyers mostly don't suffer from law brain. They are just trying to get good results for their clients and will say whatever ridiculous things are necessary. Sincere law brain seems most virulent in journalism, a subset of fundraising-adjacent industries, and those dear deluded people who think you can take the politics out of policy. Oh, yes, and also "cause" lawyers: those who don't have to answer to real clients. Sometimes, I think that the cause lawyers believe that law is an effective instrument of social change!
Derrick Bell had some spicy comments about civil rights lawyers in one of his CRT papers.