Big Law's Sixth Amendment: The Rise of Corporate White-Collar Practices in Large U.S. Law Firms

79 Pages Posted: 11 Jan 2012 Last revised: 27 Jan 2012

See all articles by Charles D. Weisselberg

Charles D. Weisselberg

University of California, Berkeley - School of Law

Su Li

University of California, Berkeley - School of Law

Date Written: 2011

Abstract

Over the last three decades, corporate white-collar criminal defense and investigations practices have become established within the nation’s largest law firms. It did not used to be this way. White-collar work was not considered a legal specialty. And, historically, lawyers in the leading civil firms avoided criminal matters. But several developments occurred at once: firms grew dramatically, the norms within the firms changed, and new federal crimes and prosecution policies created enormous business opportunities for the large firms. Using a unique data set, this Article profiles the Big Law partners now in the white-collar practice area, most of whom are male former federal prosecutors. With additional data and a case study, the Article explores the movement of partners from government and from other firms, the profitability of corporate white-collar work, and the prosecution policies that facilitate and are in turn affected by the growth of this lucrative practice within Big Law. These developments have important implications for the prosecution function, the wider criminal defense bar, the law firms, and women in public and private white-collar practices.

Keywords: white-collar crime, criminal defense, law firms, prosecutors

JEL Classification: K40, K42, K14, L84

Suggested Citation

Weisselberg, Charles D. and Li, Su, Big Law's Sixth Amendment: The Rise of Corporate White-Collar Practices in Large U.S. Law Firms (2011). Arizona Law Review, Vol. 53, p. 1221, 2011, UC Berkeley Public Law Research Paper No. 1982770, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1982770

Charles D. Weisselberg (Contact Author)

University of California, Berkeley - School of Law ( email )

University of California, Berkeley
School of Law
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
United States
510-643-8159 (Phone)
510-642-3856 (Fax)

Su Li

University of California, Berkeley - School of Law ( email )

Berkeley, CA 94720
United States
8476449763 (Phone)

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