Author Description

<p>Jews are a people of law, and law defines who the Jewish people<br/>are and what they believe. This anthology engages with the growing complexity<br/>of what it is to be Jewish — and, more problematically, <b>what it means to be at<br/>once Jewish and participate in secular legal systems</b> as lawyers, judges, legal<br/>thinkers, civil rights advocates, and teachers. The essays in this book trace<br/>the history and chart the sociology of the Jewish legal profession over time,<br/>revealing new stories and dimensions of this significant aspect of the American<br/>Jewish experience and at the same time exploring the impact of Jewish lawyers<br/>and law firms on American legal practice. </p><p>“This superb collection reveals what an older focus on<br/>assimilation obscured. Jewish lawyers wanted to ‘make it,’ but they also wanted<br/>to make law and the legal profession different and better. These fascinating<br/>essays show how, despite considerable obstacles, they succeeded.”<br>— Daniel R. Ernst<br>Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center<br>Author of <i>Tocqueville’s<br/>Nightmare: The Administrative State Emerges in America, 1900-1940</i></p><p>“This fascinating collection of essays by distinguished<br/>scholars illuminates the distinctive and intricate relationship between Jews<br/>and law. Exploring the various roles of Jewish lawyers in the United States,<br/>Germany, and Israel, they reveal how the practice of law has variously<br/>expressed, reinforced, or muted Jewish identity as lawyers demonstrated their<br/>commitments to the public interest, social justice, Jewish tradition, or<br/>personal ambition. Any student of law, lawyers, or Jewish values will be<br/>engaged by the questions asked and answered.”<br>— Jerold S. Auerbach<br>Professor Emeritus of History, Wellesley College<br>Author of <i>Unequal<br/>Justice</i> and <i>Rabbis and Lawyers</i></p>