Seven years ago, law Professor Tamar Frankel, in her book about the loss of trust and confidence in American business culture, wrote about the commodification of legal and medical services as one example of decline in trust in society generally.
Both the public and legal and medical professionals themselves see their professional role less and less as that of a trusted fiduciary providing a public service, and more as a business person providing goods for sale. For example, lawyers have been advertising for some time now. However, more recently that advertising has gone to another level with lawyers and law firms engaging in more serious branding with Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, blogs, and stylized and shortened firm names. Although many benefits to this trend exist, dangers undoubtedly do as well. As Professor Frankel notes, commodification puts the focus increasingly on making the sale and bringing in revenue; thus, potentially leading to a decrease in trust-based relationships. This debate has continued for years and will likely continue for years to come. But, recently, this idea of commodification of the legal profession seems strikingly relevant in considering the implications of the current "crisis in legal education."
