Atticus Finch — unimpeachable lawyer and civil rights champion, or unapologetic racist? Readers have struggled to reconcile these two versions of fiction’s most iconic attorney since the July 14 publication of Harper Lee’s “Go Set A Watchman,” set some 20 years after the events of “To Kill A Mockingbird.”

A particularly lively debate broke out within the legal academy, where Finch served as an inspiration for more than a half-century, not to mention a staple of legal ethics courses.